How did it come to this?
by EmilAbend
Summary: Wishing to change fate, Emil will go through a twisted reality of the original game's storyline and reach Richter from the darkness of Aster's death and change their destiny. (Emil x Richter ) Tales of Symphonia and all characters belong to Tales of Namco and Bandai Namco
1. Ch1 Thank you

**How did it come to this? Chapter.1 Thank you**

Emil had to face Richter in this final battle and win, or it would be the era of Demons and the death of humanity.  
Marta, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Regal, Colette, and Presea stayed behind the fighting member's to watch the final battle go down, ready to jump in should they need to. Emil was nervous, shaking almost. His palms sweating as he clutched his sword tightly. The only thing keeping him from completely breaking down was his Fenrir Jord and the incredible will power coming from Lloyd, along with the support of Zelos.

To Emil, Lloyd was truly amazing...to him, Lloyd was *Hope*

"Emil." The all too familiar voice called his name. The very man that changed his life, now stood before him bathed in the flames of hell. Most of his body was black and burning, it reminded Emil of lava while his hair was like fire, burning brightly as it fluttered in the air around them.

Axe in one hand and sword in the other but his eyes...they were still the same beautiful green eyes that he remembered but those iconic glasses that Emil always remembered were nowhere to be found on the older man's face.

"Richter-san!" Emil raised his voice, glaring at the man who meant the world to him. He did his best to hide his fear and cease his trembling as he slowly approached him, feeling his heartbeat quicken with every step.

"Stop this...you can still turn back" Emil pleaded, begging, praying that he wouldn't have to kill him, much less fight him.

"You stand in my way, even after taking Aster's life and stealing his face!?" Richter glared sharply at the boy, full of hate, damning the boy.

"Emil, we have to do this...I know it's hard...I had to do the same with one of my friends" Lloyd said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Eyes full of sympathy.

"Thank you...But, I want to face him alone" Emil smiled for a moment. Lloyd nodded, understanding the boy's feelings.

"Come on Zelos, we can jump in if things get dangerous," Lloyd said, joining the rest of the group.

"Alright. But I don't like this" Zelos replied, following Lloyd but gave a quick pat on the blond's shoulder as he passed by.

"It's okay guy's, I'll be back," Emil said in a reassuring manner, petting his monsters before sending them all away to wait with Lloyd and the others.

"Emil" Richter called the boy's name, gaining his attention. "You better be ready." He warned as he scowled, damning him for being the murderer of his dear friend, damning the world for having to bring him to this point.

"I am…" Emil nodded with a stern look in his eyes, not once did he remove his gaze from the older man.

And with that, the two become locked in a heated battle. Marta was on the verge of tears, worried she would lose the one she loved forever.  
Lloyd hated doing nothing, as he now understood how Zelos must have felt when he Fought Kratos alone and just how frustrating it must have been for Zelos to just watch that as he was now standing here watching Emil fight Richter.

In all of his fights against Richter, Emil had always held back when attacking, as he didn't want to hurt such a precious person. But now was not the time for that and he knew he couldn't hold back at a time like this because Richter had never held back before, not once...But Emil couldn't do it. Every time he hit the man, he thought about how it might be the final blow and his heart would stop for just a moment, only meeting the harsh blow of Richter's attacks.  
He could no longer stop the trembling in his hands, as the pain was becoming too much for him. The sharp intense pain of Richter's burning weapon's cutting at his flesh, and the smell of his own flesh and blood burning made his stomach sick.  
At this point, Marta was crying in Sheena's arms and Lloyd and Zelos continued to stay in place as Emil had yet to give them any sign to help him.

"R...Richter-san" Emil tried to stand straight, trying to function his trembling legs, coughing up his own blood, trying so hard to fight and swallow the fear of death.

"Emil, just stand down and die so I can save Aster," He said coldly, approaching the boy.  
To Richter, Aster was everything, his *Light* in this world, and nothing was going to stop him from bringing that light back.

Emil chocked when the man gripped his fingers around his neck, very slowly burning away at his soft skin. Emil gagged, choking, clawing at the arm that was choking him, struggling to get air into his lungs.

"R-Richter..san….please….stop…" He begged as he could feel his feet lift from the ground, feeling the grip on his neck tighten.

"You killed Aster!" Richter glared as he resented how the boy continued to beg.

"I..I'm...so...rry….ngh...I didn't mean...to…." Emil chocked out, speaking with what little air his lungs could get.

Feeling the life in his own hands struggle to breathe under his grasp, Richter studied the boy closely as tears were now streaming down the boy's cheeks and falling from his chin and onto his hand that he chocked the boy with, feeling the cold droplets it his hand.

"Richter...I know..that you care about Aster...and...that...you want to save him...But..w...what about me?" He asked, catching the man by slight surprise, as the hand that chocked him had twitched at those words.

"Don't...Don't I mean anything to you...after everything..we….went..through...after everything...did I truly...honestly mean...nothing? Does my life mean so little that you could kill me so easily without hesitation!?" Raising his voice, thick streams of tears ran down his eyes, his voice hitched as he continued to choke for air, sobbing hard as he was losing the strength to pull the man away. Blood running down his mouth.

"Emil…." Richter just barely loosened his grip, continuing to watching the boy slowly cry and sob to his death.

Was it really just my face? Because...to me….all those moments we spent together...they...they were the world to me...even when you seemed to dislike my being there….I always enjoyed being by your side...But to you...I meant nothing…." Emil began to lose the life that shined so beautifully in his eyes while tears blurred his vision. Feeling the burring around his neck grow, he trembled, he was afraid, afraid of death.

"Emil...I" That wasn't true, Richter had enjoyed the time he spent with Emil, watching the boy laugh and smile, hearing what little stories he had to talk about. But...he had to kill him if he wanted to get Aster back...He had to take Emil's life for Aster.

I have to, I have to, I have to...!

"Richter-san...I...I know I'm not Aster...But.." Emil could feel himself slipping...and he knew this because he was becoming numb to the pain at this point. Blood streamed from his neck, all over Richter's hand. He coughed up more of his blood, his body going limp under the man's grasp as the flow of tears began to slow.

"Richter-san….I….loved….you…...that's why I...couldn't..fight….back….I loved you...Richter-san…." Despite everything, Emil managed a smile, he smiled with what little strength he had left and smiled at the very man whose hand was wrapped around his neck.

Richter's eyes widened as a thin stream of tears run down his own cheeks. Suddenly, Rickter's eyes were torn from Emil's face when a bracelet fell from Emil's wrist. It was really worn and dirty from the fight...but Richter recognized it...It was the very Balacruf bracelet that he had given Emil so long ago for Marta…

"Emil...You…" After all this time, all these years...He was finally going to get aster back. But is it really worth it anymore? He had grown so close to Emil and yet...As he held his weapon in one hand, he was faced with his final choice. The choice to Run his sword through Emil, and kill him to revive Aster...or, Let the boy go and lay Aster to rest.

Aster was Everything to Richter and yet, somehow, Emil had become something just as meaningful to Richter with the little time they spent together. It was true, it had been his face that kept him around for a while. But after knowing Emil as Emil, Richter slowly began to pray that Emil was not Ratatosk. He liked Emil for being Emil, despite his face resembling Aster's...So, could he really kill Emil for Aster? Could he really live with that?

"Emil….I'm sorry" Richter showed such pain, regret. He released his grip on the boy's neck, letting him fall to his knees as he choked and gasped for air, wheezing in pain. Richter closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to gaze at the boy once more.

"I really am sorry...forgive me" were the last words Emil remembered, as tears streamed down Richter's face.

"Emil!" Marta screamed, tears running down her face.

"Damn you!" Lloyd charged in with Zelos. The rest following his lead.

"Emil!" Raine quickly ran to aid the boy, who was just stabbed through his chest moment's ago. Laying in a pool of his own blood, his body was limp with no response.

Marta sobbed, shaking his body over and over, hoping he would wake up and come back to her, until it faded away, leaving behind his core…Richter was soon killed after and Ratatosk reawakened, having no memory of anyone. He forever shut himself out from the world, as he now and forever will keep the lock sealed, keeping the demon's from ever coming out, changing the laws of the world as he reclaims the mana from the world to create a new seal, now that he had all of his centurions under his control.

Marta spent months, alone, crying...Lost without the boy she knew as Emil.  
Lloyd could only blame himself, doing everything in his power to make it up to Marta. Had Zelos not been there, Lloyd might have broken down into tears as well…  
Everyone was glad that Ratatosk was alive. But...The boy they all knew as Emil was dead, forever gone from this world, never able to move on, as he was forever just a part of Ratatosk. In the end, Richter could finally join Aster…

* * *

"Couldn't...Couldn't I do it over again?" The boy asked.

"Humph...If it's something you think you can, then go right ahead" The angel replied.

* * *

-I want to go back...Back to the time in Palmacosta-

It was just when Emil as suddenly bumped into Richter in front of Palmacosta's church. Richter and Emil had been surprised to see each, especially Richter, considering he assumed he was still living safely in Luin. But Emil was just relieved to see the man after seeing him collapsed on the ground after being attacked by Lloyd. The two both talked for a minute before Richter something he had to take care of, saying his goodbyes to the boy and walking away...But something inside Emil screamed that he had to reach out...that he had to call out. He had to reach Richter.

"R...Richter-san!" Emil called out to the man, unsure of what was compelling him to do so in the first place.

"Emil!" Tenebrae couldn't tell what was going on through the boy's mind...And as much as he wanted to warn Marta, he had to stay close to Emil, To Ratatosk.

The man came to a halt. He sighed and turned around to face the boy. "I thought I told you I was leaving?" He scoffed, with a slight glare, hoping to make the boy leave.

"Richter-san...I…" Emil didn't even know what to say, he hardly even knew what drove him to do so. Lowering his head, he tucked his chin into his scarf.

"Emil, I don't have time to waste anymore." He huffed, crossing his arms.

"Richter-san, I-I...um"

"Emil, you made a pact with Ratatosk-sama to protect Lady Marta, and this man is trying to kill her!" Tenebrae warned, obviously displeased with the boy's actions to further his time with the older man.

"What!? You idiot!" Richter suddenly scolded, surprising the boy which caused him to freeze up a bit. Scared of those eyes and his angry tone, Emil refused to lift his head even once.

"I-I…." He stuttered, scared to anger the man further.

"What were you thinking making a pact with him!?" Richter scolded once more, taking a hold of the boy's shoulders, shaking him violently.

"I-I just wanted to protect Marta" The boy explained, frightened of the man's sudden rage. Richter noticed this quickly and released the boy, putting some distance between them before composing himself.

"You idiot...you shouldn't have gotten involved in this," He said, turning away a bit, with an almost sorrowful look on his face.

"But I'm already involved" Emil suddenly raised his voice as if to prove himself not a child. But as a grown man who chooses for himself.

"..." Whether it was Emil's face resembling Aster's, or if it was just because he found himself caring for the boy, he didn't want him to end up getting hurt or getting mixed up in the Vanguard or Ratatosk.

"Richter-san-" Emil quickly halted his words, eyes widening as flashes of Richter appeared in his mind like a dream, feeling the pain of being cut, slashed, stabbed...killed.

"Uaaaaaagh!" He screamed, holding his head tightly, falling to his knees as he panted heavily.

"Emil!?" Richter quickly knelt down by the boy. "What's wrong?" He asked as concern was heard through the tone of his voice.

"My...head...I keep getting these...these flashes of you killing me…" These flashes had been something he started to have a while back but at the time they were blurry and painless, so he had never bothered to mention them to Marta.

"Just relax" He said. His tone calm.

"...huff….huff…" The boy tried to relax and could feel the pain subsiding as the sound of Richter's voice echoing in his head seemed to do the trick.

"You seem fine now...Get some rest" He sighed, standing back up as he couldn't help but find himself foolish when his heart had skipped a bit with worry for the boy.

"R...Richter-san…" He slowly stood back up to watch the man...wondering why he would have dreams of Richter killing him when all he's ever done was be nice to him.

"...And don't worry about those visions. I hear dreams about dying is supposed to be a good sign of luck.." He said, hoping to relieve the boy of worry.

"Richter-san...Thank you, I knew you were a nice person" He smiled brightly. A light shade of pink grazing his cheeks.

"Don't mistake advise for kindness" He scoffed, looking away from the boy, as his cheeks flushed a pink color, trying to drown out the fluttery feeling the boy gave him every time he smiled.

"So...where are you going Richter-san?" He asked, despite knowing it might be obvious….But he wanted to have faith that maybe-

"-I don't see why that has anything to do with you." He replied in a cold manner, pushing his glasses up in hopes this would drive the boy away.

"I just...I want to know more about you, I think your really cool" Emil explained, full of determination to get closer with Richter.

"Emil….." Damning himself for being so kind to the boy, as he found the boy's words to slightly embarrass him, pulling at his heart. But their attention was quickly taken when the all too familiar enemies voice spoke up, interrupting the two males.

"You're that boy Marta-chan was with," She smiled deviously.

"The sadist!?" Emil's eyes widen in surprise, hoping he won't need to fight in public. Richter, on the other hand, was speechless by the name Emil had given her, while Alice was more than furious but quickly decided to play along.

"A sadist? Is that what Marta-chan as been calling me these days?" Cocking her head off to the side a bit, she smiled, obviously still displeased. But didn't waste any time before getting right to the point.

"Now why don't you be a good boy and tell me where she is?" She smiled as she played with her weapon, making the boy nervous as she slowly began drew near.

"Alice, he's an acquaintance of mine," Richter spoke, stepping in front of Emil.

"But the boy is with Marta-chan" She smiled with a tilt of her head with a slight glare to her eyes.

"And I said he's an acquaintance." He glared, gripped the handles of his weapons tightly, continuing to stare her down. Both stared each other down for a moment before Alice finally backed down, knowing full well of the situation.

"Richter-san…" He couldn't believe it...Richter was protecting him from Alice. His heart fluttered at the sight of the man's back, shielding him from danger...but at the same time...it upset him because Richter knowing Alice so formally most likely meant he was part of the Vanguard...

"Fine. But if I see the little runt with Marta-chan, all bets are off" She said with a very visible glare before finally walking away. Richter than sighed, loosening his grip on his weapons before finally pulling his hands away.

"Richter-san, thank-" Before Emil could say any more, he was cut short of his words as Richter seemed to give him a very stern look before scolding the boy.

"-Quickly return to Marta before Alice kills you both, or before I kill her." He scoffed, speaking coldly to him.

"I'm sorry..." was all Emil could think to say before lowered his head in response, hoping he hadn't upset the man more then he had already or gotten him into trouble for protecting him.

"...Be more careful, Emil.." He said softly before walking away.

"Richter-san...w-wait!" The boy caught up with the man once more, suddenly remembering something he had gotten.

"Emil, go-" Before Richter could say any more, Emil quickly handed the man a small pouch.

"Here. I don't like herbs...But I read that these ones are good for pains and helping to heal wounds...I started picking them after I joined Marta because I...I was really worried about that injury that you had back in Luin…" The boy explained, nervously lowering his head, as his cheeks began to burn a pink color.

"...Emil." He eyed the small cloth bag in the boy's hand. He could only feel guilty, as Emil kindly offered such a kind gift despite how cold he had been to him. He took the small bag from the boy, watching him pull his head back up.

"I guess I should go now…" Emil started to run off to find Marta, when he had suddenly stumbled, cheeks flushed a rosy color as he at the last moment could hear the man behind him say "Thank you, Emil…" at the last moment. His heart was pounding against his chest.

* * *

-Our fight at the Temple of Martel-

Emil and Marta were on their way back to Iselia when they had begun to argue. Marta had said something that really got to Emil...It really hurt Emil, and Marta was full of guilt but this finally pushed Emil to his limit.

"Stop trying to make me into someone I'm not! And I don't even remember you!" Emil lashed out.

"Emil I…-" Marta didn't know what to say, all she knew was that she felt like crying for making the boy feel so hurt and angry.

"Forget it...let's just go…" Emil lowers his head, continuing onwards as he didn't want to talk about it anymore...

"Emil…" Marta felt so cruel, she couldn't believe how she had been treating Emil all this time, without even considering his feelings.

It was hours after they had met up with Raine and Genis. Fight after fight, Inn after inn, Item after item, and problem after problem...They were finally reaching Izoold. The moon was bright and the air was nice. Genis and Raine didn't know what to do with their friends. Marta and Emil still seemed to be arguing over something. It's not that Emil didn't want to fix it...But. he was really hurt by what Marta said and didn't know what to say to her and he didn't exactly trust himself at the moment to hear what Marta had to say because he had been going Ratatosk mode a lot recently and didn't want to lash at her in case he was to turn and try to hurt her.

"So uh.." Genis looked at his friends, not sure how to break the awkward silence.

"Marta, why don't you and I set up our tents?" Raine suggested.

"Yeah, alright" She smiled a bit and walked with Raine to go get started, leaving Emil with Genis.

"Um, Emil, why don't you go get some firewood while I start dinner," Genis said with a smile, hoping to cheer Emil up.

"O-Okay" Emil smiled a bit and walked off in the dark in search of firewood. He wasn't so far that he had lost his way. But he was far enough that anyone from his group couldn't see or hear him should he scream.

"Sigh...I should really talk to Marta...But...What if I get angry and go into Ratatosk mode...I don't want to hurt Marta, I want to protect her...I just…." He sighed, giving the firewood in his arms a sorrowful look. He started feeling guilty as he remembered sounding so cruel to the poor girl.

He continued to pick up sticks laying on the ground. It was really quiet and a bit chilly, so the thought of finishing up and sitting by a warm fire would be a pleasant reward when he finished.

"Emil, look out!"

"Eh!?" Emil was surprised by the sudden familiar voice. Dropping the firewood, he turned around and just like that, Richter had jumped in front of him and blocked an incoming fireball that would have burned him in a mere second.

"You idiot, don't let your guard down! Get ready, here it comes! "He scoffed. Both weapons ready in hand.

"R-Right!" Was all Emil could think of for a response. He was still slightly surprised by the sudden attack.  
He drew his weapon, moving from behind Richter to stand next to him as an Elder dragon came out from some rocks, heading towards them, ready to kill.

"You want a piece of me!?" The boy's eyes suddenly turned red, as he snarled at the monster with a sharp glare.

"..." Richter assumed that must have been the power of Ratatosk, being that Emil had told him that he made a pact with the lord of monsters...Well, not so much as Emil told him. But Tenebrae had said it himself back in Palmacosta.

The two fought the dragon, and thanks to Richter they were close to victory when suddenly the dragon made an ear-splitting roar, calling more dragon's and gaining the attention of other monster's, and gaining the attention of monster's that didn't like each other at all. It became a battlefield for Richter and Emil.

"Damn...more of them" Richter grunted. He didn't plan on fighting this many, nor was the boy strong enough to face all of them.

"Damn, we're outnumbered!" The boy said with a glare at the monsters with Richter beside him.

"Emil!" Marta suddenly called out from the distance, gaining both of the males attention.

"Marta!?" Eyes suddenly returned to their kind green color, as his eyes searched for the source of the girl's voice.

"Hang on Emil!" Genis called out next.

Marta, Genis, and Raine showed up from the sound of the dragon and came as quick as they could to help but were too far for Emil and Richter to see as they were on the other side of the group of monsters. "Emil! We're coming!" Marta cried out once more. There were so many monsters all fighting them and each other that it almost felt like a war zone with no end in sight.

"Emil, keep moving!" Richter scolded, attacking the Padfoot that attacked, once more protecting Emil from harm's way.

"R-Right, sorry" Just when Emil was getting ready to fight again, another painful flash of Richter killing him came to his mind.

"Aaaaa!" He screamed in pain, pulling his head down and holding it tightly in his hands.

"Emil!?" Marta felt her heart drop when she heard Emil's scream. Trying to fight her way through the monsters to reach the boy, Genis and Raine did their best to help clear a path for her. All were unaware of Richter being present.

"Emil!" Richter swiftly fought off a monster that approached the boy and returning to his previous battle, while trying to keep a close eye on the boy.

"Is it another vision!?" He asked, trying to keep focused on his fight while looking over his shoulder to see the boy.

"R...Richter-...san…" Emil collapsed, as his body couldn't take any more strain from the visions, dropping his sword to the side as he hit the ground.

"Emil!? Emil!" Richter turned to see the boy on the ground, quickly finishing off a monster before kneeling by his side.

"Emil I'm coming!" Marta said over the fighting of monsters.

Richter saw that there was little end to the monsters and knew Emil couldn't stay here, and leaving him here while trying to protect him wouldn't work for long either. His only option is to take Emil and make an escape while the boy's friends fight the monsters off unless he leaves the boy for dead...

"Emil...I'm sorry" Richter had little faith in Emil's friends and couldn't stay any longer. He sheathed his weapons, pulling the boy's arm over his shoulder and hoisting him up, using his other arm to hold up the boy's waist. "Aqua!" He quickly called. She appeared through the hair with few bubbles that popped and floated in front of the man, greeting him with a smile.

"You called Richter-sama?"

"Fend off any monsters that get in my way," He said, beginning to walk, keeping a tight and firm grip on the boy, should he need to run or dodge.

"Yes Richter-sama, you can count on me!" She replied, looking behind them before following her master. summoning her own water attributed monster's to defend them while leading her master to a safer location to rest at.

* * *

It was an hour before Marta, Genis and Raine finished off all the monsters. They took a seconded to catch their breath before looking for any signs of the boy. But with little to no luck, splitting up as they called for the boy.

"EMIL!" Marta called, panic began to set in as no trace of him was nowhere in sight and the thought of losing the boy forever wasn't something Marta was ready for...even if she had a year to prepare, she would never be ready to lose the boy.

"Emil! Come on, say something!" Genis called while Raine looked around, scanning the area for any more monsters.

"Emil...Emil, I'm so sorry…!" Tears began to flood her eyes, feeling so much regret.

"M-Marta…" Genis didn't know what to do, as seeing her cry made him feel guilty...wishing he could do something.

"Genis, Marta," Raine called. "Look at these" Raine said, eyeing what seemed to be human tracks in the dirt.

"Huh? Footprints of someone's shoes. But they appeared to be a mixture of Emil's and someone else's" Genis said, pointing out the other prints.

"Emil was here and someone else seems to have been here with him," Raine explained.

"B-But who? And if so, are they bad people?" Marta asked, full of worry.

"Hmm...Judging by the way they're printed...Someone must have been helping Emil fight, and assuming that scream we heard from Emil was just an injury…It seems whoever was here must have carried Emil off into the woods since his tracks end here..." Raine calculated.

"Wow, sis, good job" Genis grinned with pride, after all, having a sister like Raine was pretty cool.

"So someone helped Emil with the monsters and carried him off when he got hurt?" Marta asked.

"Yes, so it appears...But I could be wrong." Raine lowered her head a bit, as she continued to calculate

"...Well…" She looked around. "There isn't any blood…" Marta said, relieved.

"Yeah, that means you got to be right Sis," Genis said, praying for the better outcome.

"...Let's just focus on following those tracks before whoever it is, runs off with Emil across the ocean or something" She said with a sigh.

"Yeah, hang in there Emil!" Genis smiled.

"Emil...I promise to find you…" Marta held her hand to her chest, regretting ever treating Emil the way she did, just wanting to see him smile at her the way he used to…So the three made their search for Emil. But one thing bothered Raine. If Emil had screamed from a possible injury, why was there no blood?

* * *

The sun was starting to rise. Richter was sat down while Emil was lied down across from him, not waking from his sudden collapsing.  
Aqua prepared some of the herbs from the small sack that Emil had given her master and once she made the herbs into a mushy substance, Richter removed his coat and shirt, allowing her to apply the herbal mush to the old wound that had been bugging him, and patched it up with clean bandages. Emil slowly began to awaken. He sat up looking around a bit, trying to recall the last thing that had happened to him, rubbing his eyes.

"Emil, you're awake," Richter said, as he slipped his shirt over, sliding his arms through.

"Richter-san?" Emil turned his head to the direction of the voice but his eyes widen to some degree as his eyes stared at the man's bare chest, watching him button up his shirt. His cheeks slowly burned a red color, as his heart began to pound against his chest, hearing the echo of his heartbeat in his ears.

"Emil, how are you feeling? You collapsed before." Richter asked as he finished buttoning up his shirt, reaching for his coat.

"Y..Yeah" Emil responded, hardly even listening to what Richter had said. The image of Richter with his open shirt burned into his mind.

"...Emil." Richter called, realizing the boy's staring, as his brows forwarded, glaring in annoyance.

"..."

"Emil!" He snapped.

"Huh?" Emil shook his head, realizing that Richter was fully clothed.

"You need to get back to your group." He said.

"Huh? M-My friends? That's right!" Emil suddenly remembered last night, as his friends had come for him, worried about his safety.

"Yes, now let's get moving." He said, standing up. Emil sat up after and looked at the man for a moment.

"Marta must be worried sick...she was worried even when I was mad at her…" He lowered his head, feeling guilty once more.

"Let's go..." Richter said, walking on ahead, ignoring the boy's words as he began leading them back to where the other's had been. Emil silently followed, but his attention was caught when he saw Aqua return the small bag to Richter, eyeing him as he watched the man tuck the pouch away safely into his pocket. He flushed a bit with a small smile on his face, knowing Richter used his herbs.

"...Richter-san?" He asked, lifting his head up a bit.

"What now?" Obviously annoyed with more questioning.

"I know you said feelings lose their meaning when you put them into words. But...I really am thankful for how kind you've been to me...I really like you Richter-san…" Emil spoke from the bottom of his heart and his smile showed this well.

"..." Richter ceased his walking. Emil halted in response before bumping into the man, worried he might have upset him.

"...Emil" Richter eyed the ground beneath his feet for a moment. What was he to say? Emil had spoken such kind words to him, words that oddly made his heart lighter as he was practically cracking a small smile on his face...even though they were enemies now.

"Richter-san...I-" Emil wanted to apologize. But he was scared of angering the man further.

"Emil, thank you…" Richter managed to voice, surprising the boy.

"Richter-san..?" Emil's cheeks heated up, turning into a soft rosy color.

"For...For the herbs I mean." Richter corrected his words. But somehow Emil got the feeling that Richter wasn't talking about the herbs.  
Without facing each other, they both shared smiled for a moment together. Richter was beginning to hate how much the boy seemed to pull at his heart. But he couldn't help but care and worry for the small boy, and not just for resembling Aster...While Emil on the other hand, always wanted to travel with him. He wanted to follow him to the ends of the earth, even after becoming enemies.

"Richter, what are you doing out here?" Alice asked, suddenly floating down on her big purple and white baloon looking monster, quickly taking notice of the blond boy beside the older man yet again.

"I guess this boy is more then you said he was" She giggled. But how was Richter going to take Emil back now? He could maybe say that Emil was to be planted in Marta's group to be a spy...but somehow he knew the boy might give himself away, especially since he wouldn't have a way to report back to them.

"Does she...think I'm traveling with Richter-san?" Emil thought, almost flushing at the thought of being able to actually travel with the man.

"What are you doing here?" Richter asked the women, only half glaring.

"I was on my way to hunt for Marta-chan, when I found you two"

"..." Emil continued to listen to them but almost felt the urge to hide behind Richter.

"Anyway, I haven't seen them" She explained.

"I see."

"Hmm...Boy, do you happen to know where the girl is?" She asked, peering behind Richter.

"U-Um.." Emil avoided eye contact, stepping a bit closer to Richter, not sure exactly how to respond.

"..." Richter stayed silent, making sure Alice didn't try to harm Emil as it was obvious she still didn't quite trust him.

"Well? You want to help Richter-sama don't you? So tell me, do you know anything?" She asked once more.

"U-Um...I don't know anything" He said and honestly, it was the truth. All he knew was that they were headed for Izoold. but that was all that he knew and there was no telling if Marta and friends even got there yet, or even changed their plans because of him.

"Hmm? Well...that's a shame" She continued to smile.

"...Are you done?" Richter asked, glaring a bit.

"Not yet. The boss says he wants to see you, so he sent me while I looked for Marta-chan" She smiled, stepping away from the two.

"I see…" Richter looked at Emil for a moment, knowing he was going to have to bring Emil if he didn't want Alice to follow or suspect him any further.

"You can use my little monster to fly you to the base. I have another one I can ride on or even that dumbo Decus" She said.

"Alright, I leave you to continue your search," Richter said. climbing onto the monster, with Emil nervously climbing behind. The monster floated away into the sky, taking Richter and Emil to the Vanguard base. Once Emil felt a bit more comfortable on the monster's back, he gave it a small and gentle pat on the side as he smiled, thanking it for the ride and all its hard work.

"...Emil."

"Huh?" Emil's attention was suddenly broke from his thoughts and towards Richter.

"Are you alright?" He asked with a bit of concern in his tone.

"Y-Yeah…" Emil blushes at the man's concern and straightened his back, suddenly bumping into Richter's back, forgetting that the man was sitting right in front of him and the space capacity on the monster wasn't very big.

"Ah...S-Sorry" He flushed a darker red, ducking his head. He could still faintly feel a tingly sensation from where his chest touched Richter's back.

"...It's fine, now stop apologizing." He sighed. He was quite bothered by the odd feeling in his stomach when he had felt the boys small chest against him and just wanted to get through this matter quickly without any more trouble.

Emil didn't know what was going to happen next, or how he was going to get back to Marta and the others.  
All he knew was that he and Richter were headed towards the Vanguard base and that he was going to be seen as Richter's teammate in the hunt for Marta.  
How did he end up in this mess?


	2. Ch2 Chef guy

_**How did it come to this?: chapter.2 Chef guy**_

 _While on their way to the Vanguard base, Richter was lost in his thoughts. He hated seeing how Emil was identical to Aster, pained by every expression of the boy...But when he really thought about it, his looks and expression's where the only thing that was like Aster...Emil wasn't the same person as Aster and that made it easy for Richter, even if it was only a little bit, every bit counted. He knew Emil was Emil and not Aster…_

" _Richter-sama" Aqua whispered in Richter's ear without revealing herself, almost giving the sense he was speaking in his mind._

" _..." He was listening, keeping silent as to keep Emil from noticing._

" _Marta isn't here...But I still feel Ratatosk-sama's presence…" She said, worry evident in her tone._

" _..." Richter's expression grew dim. He knew Ratatosk would never make a pact with a human, much less a boy like Emil, along with the fact that he resembled a man he murdered…_

" _Richter-san" Emil suddenly voiced as he turned his head, looking over his shoulder to meet Richter's gaze, only to be worried by the man's grim expression._

" _..." He didn't respond._

" _Richter-san….?" He asked, wondering if maybe it was the fact that he was forced to accompany Richter to the enemies base that was bothering the man, in which case, he could understand the feeling. He was very nervous about going._

" _..." The way the boy fought before...and his eyes turning red...and even the vision's the boy talks about, to see himself being killed by him…._

" _Richter-san?" Emil raised his tone a bit, trying to gain the man's attention._

" _..." But he doesn't even seem aware of any of it. He isn't even aware of most of what happened during their battles and seems just as confused as he is about those visions…So than...was Richter's theory correct? Could Emil really be Ratatosk after returning to his core form? But if that were the case, why did he look like Aster? Was it to spite him? But still, the visions were still a blur to the boy..._

" _Richter-san!"_

"What _?" Richter finally broke from his thoughts and looked at the boy with an almost angry expression._

" _Are you okay? Y-You got really angry all of a sudden" He asked in a stammer as he hadn't meant to shout as loud as he did, but Richter's grim expression had scared him...Worried him._

" _Yes...I'm fine." He said, pushing his glasses up and with the tone of his voice, Emil knew that was as much as Richter was going to say._

 _Could Emil...really be Ratatosk? But...He doesn't even seem to be aware of it but all the pieces would fit into place if he were..._

* * *

 _Richter could curse this fate. But Aqua saw this as Ratatosk's way of repenting, to help Aster help Richter move onward with his life without him…because as much as she resented Ratatosk for what he did to Richter, she knew Ratatosk was once a kinder person...someone she was able to trust once, at least before he had become bitter over the loss of his tree and the betrayal of Mithos...She knew Aster wouldn't want this..._

" _Richter-sama…." Aqua lowered her head, as she had a pretty good idea what Richter was thinking._

 _The two finally arrived. It was a large and forest-covered island with a very newly built base hidden within the trees. Emil was nervous about how everyone looked at him. But the feeling was soon replaced with admiration with how impressed he was when he saw how Richter commanded all the soldiers and how everyone called him Captain or boss. It almost made him feel proud when he thought about it, as Richter treated everyone so coldly, while he, on the other hand, was practically pampered by Richter. He blushed at the thought._

" _Wow Richter-san, they really seem to respect you" He smiled, a bit concerned by how all the soldiers seemed to almost fear the older man._

" _Yes...Because I'm chief of staff." Richter explained._

" _W-Wow!" His eyes sparkled. "S-So cool...You're so cool Richter-san!" Hearing Richter state his own status so casually was even cooler!_

" _...Uh" Richter flushed pink, turning away. "How can THIS be Ratatok!?" He thought._

 _Once the two made it to the office. Emil was surprised to see the man who greeted them. He couldn't help but notice a painted picture of a beautiful woman on the wall, as she looked very kind and wise but something about her oddly reminded Emil of Marta._

" _Ah, Richter. You finally arrived" Brute said, standing from his chair._

" _Yes...What did you wish to tell me?" Richter asked, clearly bothered to be back here, especially since it stopped him from returning the boy to his friends._

" _Hmm? Who's this boy with you?" He eyed the boy with suspicion as he pears behind Richter._

" _Isn't he...the boy who's traveling with M-"_

" _-He's training under me," Richter said, interrupting Brute with a stern look as he stood his ground fearlessly._

" _...I see...Well, I was going to ask if you had found any cores or obtained a Cruxis crystal...But it seems you have your hands full with a new pet" He said with a grin, eyeing the boy once more but respectfully keeping his distance as crossing Richter would be the last thing anyone wanted to do._

" _Yes. Now is that all? I'd like to return to my work." Richter huffed, trying to fight an incoming headache, as this lie about Emil being his companion was going far too deep for comfort._

" _Right, you may be on your way…I apologize for the inconvenience" Letting Richter leave, still unsure of the boy as he eyed him, watching him closely as they left his office. While exiting, Emil stuck close behind Richter._

" _..." Emil was still feeling nervous with all the suspicious eyes on him, feeling uneasy with the whole idea of being in the Vanguard's base. Just a regular soldier saying "Hey" caused Emil to yelp with surprise as he was afraid someone would recognize him from Marta and would instinctively cling to Richter's sleeve, staying close behind._

" _R-Richter-san…!" He whimpered, only wishing he had never agreed to gather firewood from last night._

" _..." Richter froze at that moment. Emil quickly realized the close contact he made with the man and pulled away._

" _I-I'm sorry…!" He lowered his head, dropping his hands to his side._

" _...It's...fine." He replied, trying to find his composure again._

No...No he couldn't be Ratatosk, not while acting like this...But...

"I don't like it here..." Emil said, hoping his friends were okay.

" _...Emil, come with me." And without any warning, Richter took off down a left hallway and without thinking, took Emil's much smaller hand into his own much warmer bigger hand. Emil flushed a bright red, as this very hand was the same hand that he pulled him up...that saved him when he was bullied back in Luin._

* * *

 _They soon come to a room that was very spacious. It had practice dummies lined up along with weapons and training weapons. There was a padded flour near some acrobatics equipment as well._

" _Where is this?" Emil asked, looking around, still feeling the flutter in his stomach, eyeing their connected hands._

" _Emil, I won't be able to get you back for a while...so in the meantime, we should stay here for the night. But first...We need to practice" He said, pulling his hand away from Emil's and drawing his weapons._

" _What!? R-Richter-san, what are you doing!?" Emil panicked, as fighting Richter was like a puppy trying to take on a bear._

 _He sighed. "Draw your weapon. I want to see you fight without Ratatosk's power." Richter explained._

" _B-But-"_

" _Just do it. You need to rely on your own power!" He scolded._

" _A-Alright" Emil drew his weapon. He tried to focus, as trying to fight off Ratatosk's powers seemed to make him a bit faint._

" _Come at me Emil!"_

" _...Here goes…" Emil tried to find his courage before attacking. He could feel the familiar feeling of swinging his sword as he fought against Richter, forgetting what little fear or nervous feelings he had as he had become fully focused on Richter. Richter could tell that Emil wasn't nearly putting in as much force as he did when his eyes were red, nor did he use his artes as often. Emil didn't seem to have the same speed or stamina either but despite all of that, Emil still never seemed to quit when knocked down and did well for his first time._

" _Huff….huff….R-Richter-san, can we take a break?" He asked, sweating from head to toe, as it had already been hours since they had started._

" _Alright, that's enough for now." He sheathed his weapons, Allowing the boy to fall to his butt and rest._

" _Richter-san...um.." He said with a few pants, looking up at the man._

" _What now?" He scoffed._

" _I-" A loud grumble of his stomach echoed in the room._

" _..."_

" _..."_ _Emil flushed with embarrassment. But Richter oddly found it….cute._

" _Hungry?" He slightly mocked as a smirk began to play on his face._

" _Y-Yeah…" Emil smiled sheepishly as he gently rubbed his stomach with flushed pink cheeks._

" _Alright, we have a kitchen you can use." He said, making his way to the exit_

 _"That sound's good" He smiled, quickly standing back up on his feet but with a slight stumble when the muscles in his legs reminded him how exhausted they were but none the less, he caught up to the man and exited the room, following right behind the older man._ _As they began to head for the kitchen, Emil suddenly asked something that embarrassed Richter to the point of not being able to think straight._

" _U-Um...Richter-san?"_

" _...What?" He huffed, tired of all the questions._

" _I-I'm sorry!...I just...was wondering if...you would….h-hold my hand again?" Emil's Cheeks flushed a burning pink color, just realizing what he was asking of him and almost wanted to kill himself now while he had a chance...but all he could think about was that warmth on his hand and how much he missed it._

" _..." Richter's eyes widen, as he recalled grabbing the boy's hand earlier. He flushed brightly. He couldn't believe his own actions, much less why the boy embarrassed him so...or why the boy eve wanted to and personally Aqua couldn't help but find it cute._

" _I-I'm sorry I...shouldn't have asked such a weird question…" Emil said, lowering his head, in hopes that Richter won't hang him._

" _..." Trying to find words for his thoughts, he stood in silence._

" _...Are you mad?" He asked, staring at the man's back. Oh god, was this it? Was he really going to die?_

" _Just keep up." He scolded, taking the boy's hand as he quickly walked them through the halls, hoping to Martel that no one would be there to see them._

 _Emil was so blown away by Richter's response that his heart jumped out of his chest, wondering if Richter felt the same spark as he did when their hands touched. Once they reached the kitchen, Richter quickly pulled his hand away, regretting ever having done that._

" _We're here." He walked on ahead and sat down in the dining room. Emil was so excited to cook in such a nice room, it was like a fancy cafeteria. Meanwhile, Richter pulled a book out to read while thinking about whether or not Emil could really be Ratatosk or not...Except that damn butterfly feeling in his stomach kept him from focusing clearly, struggling to keep the thought of Emil's precious little hand in his out of his mind._ _Emil excitedly began to start cooking. The wonderful smell began to get Richter's attention, feeling his own stomach grumble._

" _Richter-san" Emil called._

" _..." Somehow Emil knew to take this silence as a "What now?" and continued._

" _I need more potatoes, there wasn't enough," He said._

" _...Alright" He sighed, closing the book in front of him and putting it away before sitting up. "We have more in the back. I'll go get them" He then made his way for the exit. But stopped for a moment. "And don't leave the room while I'm gone" And exited the room, leaving Emil alone in the cafeteria room. Richter had a very unsettling feeling about leaving the boy alone though..._

 _After Richter had left, Emil blushed a bright red color and held his own hand, feeling the lingering warmth the older man had left, feeling the butterflies in his stomach._

* * *

" _Wha! What is that wonderful smell!?" Suddenly after a few minutes or so, Decus came into the room._

" _Huh?" Emil noticed the gross smell and saw Decus standing in front of the doorway._

" _Eh? Who are you? Are you the new chef?" Decus asked, turning to see the boy who was working in the kitchen behind the counter to his left._

" _What, me? Well um...I'm with Richter-san" Emil explained since that's what Richter's been having to explain anyway._

" _Richter huh? That guy is scary and annoying" He complained. "So, what's your name chef guy?" He asked._

" _Emil" He smiled._

" _Emil? Alright, nice to meet you chef guy. I'm Decus, the greatest knight who breathes, bleeds, dies and kills for the most beautiful amazing cute charming goddess Alice-chan"_

" _U-Um…" Emil hardly remembered any of what he said, although he recognized the name, Alice._

" _Hey, I just had a great idea chef guy!"_

" _Huh?" Whoever this Decus guy was, he sure was a weird one._

" _Why don't you make me and Alice-chan dinner! I promise to pay you back"_

" _W-Well...o-okay" Emil agreed, after all, what's the harm in cooking for someone?... Although they were after Marta..._

" _Awesome! Alice-chan will love me for sure" He suddenly ran off, full of joy and new hope for the future._

" _I hope Richter-san doesn't get mad" He smiled, scratching the back of his head, returning to his cooking, making sure everything comes out just right when suddenly he was reminded of the potatoes as he looked at the unfinished pot of stew._

" _God damn it! I need those damn potatoes!" The boy cursed, as his eyes were a crimson red color, glaring at the pot of stew. When his eyes returned to their former green color, Emil felt slightly faint, not exactly remembering what he had just done, or even what his train of thought was._

* * *

 _Richter carried the box of potatoes, smelling the delicious smell of Emil's cooking. He was a bit worried about leaving the boy alone for so long, worried someone might do something. Damn, there was that odd butterfly feeling in his stomach again! When he walked into the cafeteria, his eyes widen to the crowd of people seated in the room, talking, laugh, joking, all while enjoying neatly decorated cooking._

" _..." Richter dropped the box, turning to his left where the counter opened up to the kitchen._

" _Richter-san, you finally got those potatoes" He smiled, taking the box and started chopping at the potatoes quickly._

" _...Emil…."_

" _Yes?" He replied with a smile, focused on his cooking as he was dripping with sweat. His bangs were pinned back with a hairpin and for the love of Martel did the boy look cute like that but Richter was too furious about the other people to notice the boy's cute hairstyle._

" _Why...are you feeding all these people?" Richter asked, obviously not pleased._

" _They were all hungry, and it was Decus's idea," He said, as he finished preparing a bowl of beef curry._

" _Decus?" Richter should have known but that didn't stop him from wanting to choke said blue-haired man._

" _Robert, beef curry!" Emil called, setting the bowl of curry out on the counter._

" _Thanks, Mr. chef," The man said, taking the bowl from the counter, going back to his table and chatting away with his friends._

" _..." Richter was about ready to just walk away. "Mr...chef?" He arched a brow, crossing his arms to his chest._

" _Everyone keeps calling me that because of Decus" He chuckled a bit, as a soft pink color graced his cheeks._

" _I...see…" He sighed._

" _Here," Emil smiled brightly. "I made you a special herbal potato steak" He handed the man the plate of food. The food was so...decorated that it was hard to tell it was food but Emil's face was so flushed red with such a sweet smile that Richter would have even taken a piece of sloppy leftovers from the boy._

" _Ah...Thank you." He said, remembering how hungry he was. He went to go sit down and was oddly hating the fact that everyone was eating the boy's food, almost like only he was allowed to eat such special food, made by such delicate hands._

" _..." He stared at the food for a moment before taking a bite. "...Wow" Richter's eyes widened a bit with pink cheeks. The food was so good...and...it felt like he could really feel all the love and effort that Emil had put into the dish. He could only imagine how hard Emil must have tried to get the dish right, especially since he remembered the boy saying he didn't even like herbs, so tasting the dish must have been hard for the boy..._

" _Emil…" Richter lowered his head, trying to fight the smile forcing its way on his face, as he held the fork tightly in his hand._

* * *

 _Hours had passed and the room was finally empty. Dishes were all cleaned, and bellies were all satisfied and full, even Emil's, though he wished that he could have been able to sit down and eat with Richter but watching the man enjoy his food from afar wasn't so bad and cooking for all those people really made him feel good._

" _That was really fun" Emil smiled, wiping the sweat from his forehead._

" _Humph…" Richter smirked a bit, pushing his glasses. It was good to see the boy enjoy himself so much, despite how he originally felt about the idea._

" _So, did you like your food?" Emil asked, worried he might have left something out._

" _It was...the best I had ever had." He always liked Aster's cooking...well, from the bottom of his heart But Emil's cooking...it was almost like magic or something._

"I- _I'm glad you liked it" Emil's cheeks flushed brightly, as it warmed his heart to hear Richter give his cooking such high praise._

" _...It's about time we head to bed before we leave in the morning." He said. leading the boy through the halls once more. They eventually came to the upstairs floor, coming to a door. When they entered it, Emil could instantly tell this was Richter's room. It had the man's scent all over and many books and odd or old items all nicely placed on their shelves._

" _Richter-san..is this…?"_

" _Yes, this is my room." He said, sitting down on the bed, releasing a sigh of relief, tired from all that had gone down today, hoping tomorrow would be easier._

" _..." Emil froze, his whole face was lit up as the reality of being in Richter's room finally hit him. Careful as to not break anything or ruin anything, standing still was all he could do. He didn't even want to breathe._

" _Emil..relax already." He sighed, removing his glasses and setting them down on the nightstand beside his bed._

" _S-Sorry…" He stepped further in, allowing the door to close._

"Now g _et to bed." He said, removing his shoes, coat, and gloves before laying down._

" _B-But...there's only...one….bed…." Emil eyed the bed nervously., fidgeting with the piece of scarf hanging down his chest._

" _..." Richter laid on the right side of the bed, indicating that they would share, since there was nowhere else to sleep and held back another sigh, wishing the boy would just sleep and be quiet._

" _..." Emil assumed Richter's silence was his way of silently being annoyed, so he sat down on the left side of the bed, laying down next to Richter after removing his shoes and scarf. His heart was pounding as his shoulder was pressed against Richter's arm, as the bed obviously wasn't entirely made for two._

" _..." Emil felt so nervous, and couldn't fall asleep... He rolled over a bit, watching the older man as his face lit up into an even darker red, feeling that being this close to the man would be the end of him, as his heart was close to exploding._

" _..." Richter could feel the eyes of the boy watching him, making it hard to sleep._

 _Was this going to be a sleepless night? For once...Richter wished that he could fall asleep and never get up again._


	3. Ch3 First time cooking

**_How did it come to this?: chapter.3 First time cooking_**

 _It was still late in the night, everyone was sound asleep and not even snoring could be heard...except for anyone who slept next door to Decus. In Richter's room, the small boy stirred in his sleep before he finally woke up from his dream, his nightmare. He quickly sat up in panic, his heart was pounding against his chest, his body trembled in a coat of sweat as he eyed his trembling hands._

 _Emil?" Richter sat up, snatching his glasses from the nightstand._

" _The hell….What are these dreams?" The boy's voice was now much deeper with sharp crimson eyes. He held his forehead with his hand, hoping to ease the sharp pain of his headache while trying to clear his mind._

" _...Was it another vision?" The man asked, narrowing his brows as he eyed the boy._

" _Yeah...But why is it of you killing me when you've always been so...nice…" The boy grumbled, looking away with rosy cheeks._

" _..." He truly hoped for the boy not to be Ratatosk...But something in his gut told him wrong, especially now. Normally the boy's voice and eyes only changed when they were in battle...but now it was happening outside of battle._

" _Damn it, why am I here anyway!? I should be protecting Marta…" He growled, roughly tossing the blanket off himself._

" _Emil, just get back to bed. We leave in the morning, then I can drop you off with Marta" Richter simply said._

" _Good, cause I can't wait till I can leave this dump!" He crossed his arms._

" _Sigh…" The man removed his glasses and lied back down...and honestly, he couldn't disagree with the boy, he didn't exactly like this place either._

" _But I had a lot of fun today though" The sudden kind voice returned with bright green eyes._

"Did you? Just _get back to bed._ _" The man said, continuing to lay down with his eyes closed, hoping to sleep. Trying to figure the boy out would only give him a new headache, so he didn't bother trying to for now._

" _Yeah I did, I really liked cooking for everyone, they all seemed so happy" He smiled brightly as he thought about how he even put a smile on Alice and Richter's faces._

" _Decus was really thankful I made him and Alice such a nice dinner too" He flushed._

" _..." He does remember that Decus and Alice are with the Vanguard right? We're trying to kill Marta and he's cooking us meals? Idiot..._

" _But I've mostly really enjoyed spending so much time with you, Richter-san…" The boy whispered before laying back down in bed, however with his elven ears, Richter blushed a bit at the boy's words and found himself wanting to agree with that statement...but continued to tell himself it was all a nightmare._

* * *

 _Once the sun had finally risen, Richter was the first to awaken and sat up...however, there was something very warm and heavy clinging to his waist. Richter looked down to see the boy clinging to the side of his shirt in his sleep with the most peaceful look on his face...But with a closer look, Richter's eyes widen in horror to the star-shaped birthmark under the boy's collarbone, recalling Aster mentioning having something like that._

" _Nnh_ _….Richter-san" The boy whispered in his sleep, snuggling his head against the man's waist._

" _..." He narrowed his brows at the boy, as his cheeks began to heat up with embarrassment, ashamed that he found the boy to be….cute, forgetting the horror he felt a minute ago._

" _...Emil, wake up." He said, raising his voice._

" _Huh?" The boy quickly sat up and rubbed his eye. "Is it morning already?" He asked as he stretched his arms out, rubbing his tired eyes._

" _Yes. Get ready, we're leaving." He said, getting up and placing his glasses back on, along with his coat, gloves, and shoes._

" _Okay…" He got up with another stretch, wrapping his scarf back around his neck and slipping his shoes on._

" _Let's go." He began to walk ahead, hearing the boy's footsteps follow, not too far behind him._

" _So where are we going?" Emil asked since he didn't entirely know where Marta was to begin with anymore._

" _Flanoir." He said._

" _Is that where Marta is?" He asked._

" _Yes." He simply replied._

" _Why are they there? I thought we were headed for Izoold before…" He lowered his head a bit, wondering if maybe Marta and the other's had decided to leave him, considering they wouldn't even know where to look for him anyway..._

" _They got word that Lloyd Irving was headed there."_

" _Lloyd!?" Suddenly the boy's eyes turned red, damning that name._

" _And they're most likely hoping to find the centurion's core in the temple of ice."_

" _Damn that bastard!" He growled. "He better not hurt Marta!"_

" _...Calm yourself." He sighed._

" _Tch, you're not the boss of me!" He growled._

 _The man came to a halt, forcing the boy to stop as well. He turned to face the blond with the most annoyed and furious face. He didn't care if Emil was Ratatosk or not, so he better damn well listen or he would beat the shit out of him and drag him back to Marta._

 _The boy's eyes widen for a moment. "Tch..You don't scare me!" He glared._

" _...Stop throwing a tantrum and walk." He said coldly, continuing to walk ahead._

" _S-Shut up!" He argued back before he continued to follow._

 _As the two walked, the boy's eyes returned to green, leaving him feeling faint. Richter let the boy rest a minute before continuing to walk. Once the two finally exited the base and entered a forest. Richter came to a halt once again and turned to face the boy._

" _Do you have any monsters that we could ride?" Richter asked, hoping they wouldn't have to walk all the way to Flanoir._

" _Yeah, Podsol can carry us" Emil smiled brightly. "Come out boy!" The boy called. The Phinx summoned itself from the boys monster pocket and happily screeched, stretching its wings out. Emil smiled at the monster, giving it lots of loving pets and treats made just for them._

"... _Good, this will make the walk there much quicker." He leaped onto the Phinx, who seemed delighted to have the man need his help._

" _But won't we eventually need to cross the water?" Emil asked, climbing onto his monster and sitting in front of the man._ " _Aqua will handle that part." He said._

" _Just leave it to me" Aqua appeared, smiling brightly._

" _Thanks, Aqua" Emil returned a smile._

" _Heehee" She giggled. "Oh, Emil. You seem to handle your monster's really well" The centurion took notice, sensing the boy's monster's gratitude for him._

" _Y-You think? Well, I do try my best to care for all of them, after all...they're all my friends!" He smiled brightly with flushed cheeks._

" _..." Richter oddly seemed to like this about Emil...or maybe because Aster loved monsters too. It was a foolish kindness but it was also something he did admire about the two of them...but this also worried him as well, considering Aster had actually gotten himself into trouble because of that kindness._

 _Podsol rode the two through the forest. The two didn't seem to have much to talk about and whenever it was something about Richter, the man didn't always have much to say, whereas Emil was like an open book, willing to tell Richter anything. However, there was one thing Emil couldn't stop thinking about while they rode his Phinx...it was the feeling of Richter hitting hit slightly from behind while they rode on the monster. It was a very bumpy ride._

" _Richter-san...I really want to know more about you…" The boy lowered his head, wishing he would open up to him more, trying to keep his mind off of the embarrassing contact with the man._

" _..."_

" _..." Emil gave up, it was pointless and he didn't want to make the man angry._

Richter sighed " _I spent most of my days in Sayback." He explained._

Sayback? _" The boy lifted his head in surprise and from interest, looking over his shoulder to eye the man behind him._

" _I was always...researching meaningless things for them…."_

" _For them…?"_

 _Richter sighed once more._ "... _Emil, haven't you noticed that I use magic?"_

" _Huh? What does that have to do with anything?" The boy thought for a moment, confused by the man's words._

" _Emil, Only elves and Half-elves can use magic." Richter huffed._

 _The boy gasped. "Y-Your a half-elf?"_

" _Yes." He sighed, realizing just how naive the boy was at times._

" _Wow...I had no idea...B-But that doesn't mean anything! You could be anything and I still wouldn't_ _think differently of you Richter-san, because to me you'll always be Richter-san now matter what!" The boy flushed, clutching his chest tightly as his words were spoken from the heart._

" _...How can you say that...?" He whispered, turning his gaze away from the boy. Richter could almost see the stars in the boy's eyes but he couldn't understand why the boy was so attached to him, despite him being so cold to the boy and seeking Marta's death..._

 _Damn this_ _world...!_

* * *

 _The two finally came to a stop. As the need for food called when Emil and Richter's bellies crumbled with hunger and should a battle arise, it would be best to be in good condition if they didn't want to lose, much less get eaten for dinner. So a stop for food was made._

" _So what should I make for us?" The boy asked._

" _I'll cook for us, so go get the firewood," Richter said, kneeling down to set up their camp._

" _R-Really? O-okay" The boy took off. His cheeks flushed brightly as the thought of being able to taste Richter's food made him happy and really nervous. He could picture Richter's strong and warm hands carefully slicing each ingredient and offering the food to Emil with a handsome smile. At this thought, Emil practically stumbled in his tracks._

" _Aqua...Podsol" The Phinx perked up from his laying position "Follow Emil and keep him safe."_

" _Yes, sir Richter-sama! Come on Podsol" She smiled and swam through the air, following after the boy, along with the Phinx beside her._

 _The boy walked around through the forest, hoping to find some sticks laying around with the help of his Slime mold Chullos and his Gunna Gaia, when he suddenly heard the sound of large paws patting across the ground. When he turned his head to hear where they were coming from, he noticed Podsol and Aqua headed towards him and greeted them with a smiled, though he was confused as to why they were here._

" _Aqua, JPodsol, What are you doing here?" Emil questioned with a slight tilt of his head._

" _Richter-sama said to come keep you safe" She explained. with a smile, finding it cute how much Richter cared for the boy._

" _R-Really?" He flushed a bit. Richter really was kind to him._

" _Yeah, I guess after what happened on your way to Izoold, he doesn't trust you with collecting firewood by yourself" She giggled._

" _B-Bastard, I can handle myself!" The boy's tone suddenly changed, growling with red eyes, his cheeks flushed red to match._

" _Ratatosk-sama…?" The centurion whispered._

" _I'll show him! I can collect sticks just fine!"_

* * *

 _When they finally returned after about three hours or so, the boy came back covered in scratches with parts of his clothing burned or ripped off. The centurion and the three other monsters seemed to be in the same condition. All of them seemed out of breath as well, collapsing to the ground._

" _Emil, Aqua! What happened?" The man asked, standing up from the camp._

" _We….We got the firewood" The red-eyed boy huffed, grinning as he was dragging a pile of sticks that were wrapped in a used cloth._

" _..." How in the world does one come back looking like that just from collecting firewood?_

" _Richter-sama, we ended up fighting a pack of grizzlies! I thought we were goners" The Centurion whined, floating up to the half-elf._

" _Shut up! We were fine because I can handle myself and I even brought plenty of firewood for your stupid master!" The boy growled._

" _But it's not worth dying over!_!" _Richter argued, finding the boy's actions naive, as well as selfish considering he got Aqua and the monsters hurt over it._

" _Tch_...!" _The boy growled, turning away with his arms crossed. Richter sighed, rubbing the center of his brows, trying to cease his knew headache from getting any worse._

" _Here, just take them!" the boy threw the sticks in front of Richter's feet. "You should thank me! I didn't have to get those stupid sticks ya'know" He said, continuing to glare and growl at the man with that rude tone._

" _I'll thank you when you don't risk you and Aqua's life for mere sticks." Richter scolded._

" _Fine! I didn't need thanks from you anyway, you stupid half-elf!_ _" The boy roared before stomping off._

" _...Thank you anyway."_ _He sighed, hoping to ease the boy's temper._

 _The boy flushed, embarrassed by the man's gratitude and looked away as he hadn't actually expected him to really thank him. "Y-Yeah well..."_

" _..." Richter kneeled down and started adding the collected sticks together before casting a simple fire spell_

 _It wasn't long before the food was ready, and the boy's eyes had returned to their kind emerald eyes again But thanks to Richter knowing First aid, Emil teaching his monsters first aid, all their injuries were healed up in no time._

" _Here." Richter handed the wooden bowl to the boy. It looked to be a beef stew and smelled really good and looked really good too._

" _Thanks for the meal" Emil smiled, taking a bite of his beloved Richter's food, when suddenly_ _The boy froze, dropping the bowl to the ground._

" _..." The man sighed._

" _...I think I...see the light. Mom is that you...?" The boy smiled with tears, falling over as he could feel death's grip pulling him to the other side._

" _I was afraid of this...I've never cooked before." He sighed, lowering his head a bit with a cross of his arms._

" _Richter-sama...did you perhaps want to do something nice for Emil?" The centurion asked as she floated closer to the man._

" _..." He pushed his glasses, trying to hide the pink coloring his cheeks. Aqua giggled. It was nice to see her master having fun again after so long of pain and suffering without Aster, she was finally seeing Richter cook, smile and even blush with Emil around...It gave her hope._

 _She giggled, looking back at the boy who lied dead on the floor with his Gunna licking his face._


	4. Ch4 Warmth in the cold

**How did it come to this?: chapter.4 Warmth in the cold**

Once Emil was no longer poisoned from the man's cooking, they returned to riding the Fenrir through the woods. Along the way, the tow made small talk and every so often Richter would make a comment in between few things...except they were actually joke but at some point, Emil did get to enjoy one of Richter's laugh's as they laughed together from one of his own jokes. They eventually came to a cliff where they had a great view of the ocean and a great many pine tree's behind them.

"Wow!" Emil's eyes lit up as he gazed at the beautiful, feeling the chilly breeze hit his face as well as the smell of pine.

"Chef guy!"

"Huh?" Emil turned his head towards the voice calling him. It was the blue-haired guy from before in the Vanguard base.

"Decus, what are you doing here?" Richter asked, more than annoyed with his presence.

"Alice-chan sent me"

"..I see." Was all Richter could reply with, as he was well aware of Alice's plans...But he didn't want to tell the boy about it...He couldn't...However, he didn't expect the plan to start so soon.

"Anyway, thanks again chef guy, you really put my darling Alice-chan in a better mood" He grinned in delight.

"I-I was just helping" The boy smiled nervously.

"I know you're new to the Vanguard. But you really got the rest of the group talking about you, they really seem to like you" He patted the boy on the shoulder with an idiotic grin.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, I think it's super great that Richter brought you into the Vanguard! Anyway, I'll see you around!" And with that, Decus waved and leaped onto the floating monster that Alice had left for him, quickly taking off into the sky.

"..." Richter adjusted his glasses, hoping Decus will quickly finish his work before he and Emil would arrive.

"Even though he smells really bad, Decus is nice" The boy smiled.

"...Aqua." Ignoring the boy's comment, he called the centurion and she appeared, bubbles popped as she appeared before the man.

"What can I do for you, Richter-sama?" She asked with a smile.

"Do you have a monster that could carry Emil across the ocean?"

"Well, of course, I-" Before she could finish, Emil voiced in.

"-A-Aren't you coming with me?" The boy asked, looking at the man.

"Emil, it would be better if you went by yourself-" He tried to explain but now it was Emil's turn to cut him off.

"-But I wanted us to go together," The boy said, lowering his head.

"..." Richter let out a deep breath through his nose, keeping his mouth shut.

"...I...really like it when I'm with you…" The boy whispered.

"...Aqua."

"R-Right…" She summoner her Sea hog and orca.

"Two? Does that mean…?" Emil quickly looked at Richter, with pleading eyes.

"I'll stick with you until we reach Flanoir." He huffed.

Emil's eyes lit up as his cheeks flushed. "Richter-san…Thank you!"

"Emil, let's go." He said, climbing onto the orca.

"R-Right" The boy climbed onto the sea hog, finding it a bit different from riding his Fenrir.

"Alright, Cici, Oma. Follow my lead" She smiled, and floated across the ocean, having the two monsters follow.

"Emil, hold on tight or you'll fall in the water." Richter scoffed. Emil nodded in response, clutching the monster tightly.

* * *

The further they continued across the water the colder it got. Emil shivered, goosebumps showing on his shoulders as she shivered. Flanoir was known for its constant cold, so no doubt it was going to be cold before even reaching the island. Emil may have had warm pants, gloves, scarf and a magic tunic but his exposed shoulders were enough to send chills throughout his body and the colder it got, the less and less his clothes protected him.

"I-It's really c-cold…" The boy's teeth chattered, trying to retain his smile, as he still found himself enjoying the ride.

"It means we're getting closer to Flanoir. Once we're there, I'll leave you with Marta." The man explained, voicing over the loud winds and waves. The boy wanted to go back with Marta. But he didn't like feeling as if Richter was trying to get rid of him…Richter could see the hurt in the boy's expression. He sighed as he damned himself once more. He was fond of the boy...and, enjoyed the time they spend together...But the boy belongs with Marta and if the boy really is Ratatosk...it was better they become enemies.

"...S-So...c-cold…" The boy tucked his head between his hands since he couldn't let go of the monster without falling off. He tried to find warmth from the monster he rode but to no avail.

"Ah, s-sorry Emil…" Aqua said, feeling sorry for the boy, wishing she could do something.

"..." The man closed his eyes, trying to conceal concern for the boy's shivering, hoping to just ignore it.

Aqua finally lead the monsters to the cold island. Richter and Emil got off from the monster's, making a loud crunch sound as they land on the thick layer of snow on the ground. For a moment Emil almost thought he was going to sink further in...But Richter just raised a brow at him when the boy flushed, realizing the snow only came up to his ankles.

"Richter-sama, be careful and you too, Emil," She said before disappearing with her monster's.

"Flanoir is just up ahead." The man said, walking on ahead.

"O-O-Okay…" The boy nodded, holding his arms tightly. His exposed shoulders were covered in goosebumps, his teeth chattering, and the exposed skin turned red from the cold.

"..." Richter's heart sank at the sight of the boy.

"Emil...Don't catch a cold." He sighed.

"R...Richter-san…?" Emil flushed, feeling the warmth of the man's coat draped over his smaller shivering frame. He clutched the fabric as he took a moment to take in the man's cent left on the coat. His heart beated out of his chest, unable to believe he was really given the mans coat.

"...Are you, warmer?" He asked, keeping his eyes off the boy.

"Y-Yes...thank you Richter-san" The boy smiled, feeling himself warm up a bit.

"Good…" Richter tried to conceal the pink coloring his cheeks and continued to walk onwards with him.

"But. w-what about you?" The boy asked, worried about the man.

"I'll be fine. This cold weather means little to me." He stated. It was true, Richter wasn't one to get bothered by the cold much, especially since his body seemed to retain its body heat quite well.

* * *

The two continued to walk until they reach Flanoir. The small city of snow. By the time they reached the town, Emil was shocked to see that the town had been attacked, and the people were injured. But they would be okay thanks to Marta and Regal, who came through a bit earlier.

"W-What happened!?" The boy asked, horrified by the sight. He worried about the people as their clothes tattered and burned, many wounded and frightened.

"..." Richter knew that Decus was behind this but said nothing.

"Sir, what happened!?" The boy asked the man, standing by what use to be a house.

"It….It was...Lloyd Irving…." The man said, afraid of what their hero had become. The boy's eyes widen, anger burning up inside as his eyes flashed into red crimson.

"...Emil." Richter eyed the boy and slowly approached him.

"Damn that bastard!" The boy growled.

"Emil, calm yourself." He said.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He barked back.

"..." The man narrowed his brows.

"Tch! What do you care anyway!? It's not like you-" The red-eyed boy suddenly stopped his words when in the corner of his eyes saw the man's coat keeping him warm from the harsh cold, given to him by the older man.

"You...do care..." He clutched the fabric around him, his cheeks flushed red and not just from the cold.

"..." Richter could feel the pain aching in his heart. He knew the boy had to be Ratatosk, there was no mistake in that, Aqua could sense it...But...he still saw the boy as Emil, his friend...even when he was like this with red eyes...To Richter, He had always been Emil, not Ratatosk, not Aster….Just Emil…But...He needs Aster, and killing the boy would be the only way to do it...and yet...Right now, at this moment...When he looked at the boy in his coat...something was taking hold of him.

"W-What are you staring at!?" Red eyes glared with flushed red cheeks, feeling nervous with the man eyeing him. His heart begun to beat faster, pounding against his chest.

"Come here…" And just like that, the man pulled the boy into his arms. The boy's eyes widen and hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around the man, clutching the white fabric that rested on Richter's back. He took in that one and only scent that Richter had, that very scent that could send his heart racing. Feeling the warm and protective embrace of the man, feeling as though nothing in the world could harm him as long as these arms shielded him.

"D-Damn….R-Richter...san" His eyes soon returned to their green color.

"Emil...I...don't want to hurt you," The man said, just above a whisper.

"...Richter-san…" Tears began to well up in the boy's eyes, happy to hear that the man didn't want to be enemies either. Emil didn't want them to be enemies and after the little time they spent together, Emil couldn't bear to think about drawing his blade towards this man. They stood there like that, in the frozen..damaged town of Flanoir. Feeling each other's warmth, blocking out the cold with their shared body heat, blocking out the rest of the world with a world of their own. Richter began to realize just how hard it was going to be enemies with Emil when all he wanted to do was protect the boy...But...He needs Aster...But he's begun to really enjoy the boy's company, his cooking, his smiles, his warmth...His friendship. All the things Aster gave him...So what was he to do if the boy really was Ratatosk?


	5. Ch5 So very cold

_**How did it come to this?: chapter.5 So very cold**_

 _How did it come to this? How did the man who killed his best friend end up being the boy who was the very boy wrapped in his arms? Richter truly and honestly damned this fate, this cruel and unforgiving fate...Unaware, the boy would soon share his pain, as he will soon be overwhelmed with guilt along with betrayal as Richter will most likely kill him for Aster._

 _In the middle of damning his fate, Richter couldn't help but take notice of the boy's scent. His cheeks flushed a pink color as he was oddly finding himself to feel...a strange tingly feeling of happiness when he sniffed the boy, as the scent reminded him of a sweet flower._

 _"Richter-san..." The boy had oddly became attached to the man after the little time they had spent in Luin, feeling the attachment grow more and more with every moment, even if it was only for a mere two seconds. He couldn't help but admire and adore the man for being so cool and so perfect, so kind...aside from not being able to cook. He wanted to be close with Richter, he wanted to travel with him, smile with him, laugh with him, fight alongside him, and cook for him...So...Why did things end up this way? Why did he end up with Marta, going against Richter as enemies...? How...How did it come to this? He wondered._

 _Richter held his head up, as he could hear the sudden sounds of approaching footsteps, which were most likely Marta and the others. He could only guess they had only just come back after finding out the core was said to have already been taken by a merchant's son. He knew this as it was a part of the Vanguard's plan as well._

 _"Emil, I need to leave." He said, pulling away from the boy as well as taking his coat and slipping it back onto himself, buttoning it up._

 _"But...-" What was Emil to say? If Marta were to show up...what then?_

 _"Look." He huffed. "I promise to leave Marta alone for the moment, now get going." He scoffed, quickly making his way out of the village._

 _"Richter-san..!" Emil reached out for the man, as his body came to a harsh shiver when it realized that the man's warmth was gone, making the breezes feel twice as cold than before and by the time he realized it. The man was gone...just like that._

 _"Emil? EMIL!" Marta called out from the distance, quickly running over to the boy._

 _"Emil!" Genis quickly followed the girl's pace, as well as Raine and Regal following behind._

 _"Marta!" Emil replied with a bright smile, as he forced the thoughts of Richter out of his mind._

 _Marta wrapped her arms around the boy tightly, bursting into tears and said. "Emil, I'm so sorry!" She sobbed as the boy held her back gently and petted her head with gentle strokes. "Marta..." The boy felt so happy knowing that she had actually been worried about him._

 _"Emil, I should have never treated you that way before, s-so don't scare me l-like that a-again!" She clearly had a hard time voicing her words as her voice hitched._

 _"Marta, it's okay...and I'm sorry too...I...I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, and most of all...I should have apologized sooner" He said._

 _"Emil..." She held her head up, as her teary-eyed gaze met the boy's kind green eyes._

 _"Now, please don't cry Marta" He smiled, gently holding her shoulders._

 _"Emil!" She wrapped her arms tightly around the boy's neck and continued to cry into his chest. But this time she was crying out of joy and relief...and, to be honest, she was happier having the boy alive and well over being forgiven._

* * *

 _Once the team was settled down, Emil had to explain to everyone that Richter had saved him that night when they got separated and had to travel around with Jord just to find them all the way in Flanoir...Although he felt bad having to lie about most of...well, all of it really. But Richter had actually saved him, though. Now that the team has caught up and finished talking, they headed for the temple of ice._

 _-In that moment in ice...did I say love?-_

 _It was in the ice temple that Marta had run after who appeared to be her father, along with Genis and Raine. Emil had gone into Ratatosk mode as he and Regal were forced to fight member's of the Vanguard, oddly almost finding the boy to be...familiar. Once the battle was over with, Regal blasted away the large ice that blocked their path and mentioned his past lover for why he had never used this power before when in battle._

 _"I killed the one I love" The words echoed._

 _For some strange reason, Emil randomly began comparing him and Richter with Regal and his lover. His cheeks blushed when the words "Love" passed his lips and became more embarrassed when he realized that Regal was giving him a funny look, being that Emil mostly was thinking to himself...while making expression's to match whatever it was that he was thinking...Regal could only hope that the boy was alright and well...and not crazy._

 _Emil and Regal were horrified when they finally found Marta, Genis, and Raine. The girl lied on the cold icy floor with the two sibling half-elves with Decus standing over them. Before Decus could finish the girl off or before Regal and Emil could act, the cave began to rumble and shake as the ice started to crumble._

 _"W-What's going on?" Decus fell over, trying to stand back up._

 _"M-Marta!" Emil tried to reach the girl. But Regal had quickly pulled the boy away, just seconds before a huge chunk of ice could crush him._

 _"Emil, we need to get out of here. But be careful" Regal said before carefully trying to reach the girl. Emil tried his best to keep up with Regal while also staying alert for anymore falling ice._

 _"H-Hey, I need Marta!" Decus said, trying to crawl over to Marta, when suddenly Decus had gotten a good look at Emil "Huh? Chef guy, is that you?" Decus finally realizing the familiar face of the boy._

 _"H-Huh?" Emil didn't know what to say. Regal had already nabbed Marta while the two boys stared at one another._

 _"Emil, let's go!" Regal said, dodging ice as he made for the exit._

 _Decus stood up, confused with the boy. "Chef guy, I thought you were-"_

 _"Decus, watch out!" Emil had suddenly noticed the huge piece of ice about to fall on top of the man. He quickly pushed Decus out of the way. But the landing of ice that they hit ended up breaking and caused the two to fall down the bottomless pit of the ice cave._

 _"Emil!" Regal cried. He didn't know what to do, the boy was most likely...Before Regal's only exit out of the cave collapsed, Sheena had come in just in the nick of time to help him get Genis and Raine. Once they were safely in Flanoir, they shared a conversation about everything that's been going on and agreed to look for a way back in the temple to search for Emil once Marta had woken up with the other two._

* * *

 _Emil awoke in complete darkness, feeling pain all over his body but he almost started to become numb to the pain as the cold started to become too much. After a moment, his nose curled from the smell around him and tried to see where he was. When he tried to move, the more and more the pain in his stomach was becoming extremely unbearable._

 _"Augh...Aaaaaaaaaagh!" The boy cried out, as tears began to well up in his eyes as he realized the large sharp piece of ice in his right stomach area, pinning him to the ground as he lied on his back, feeling the blood beneath him slowly chill until frozen._

 _"C..Chef guy, is that you?" The familiar voice of Decus called out from the darkness. Emil wanted to reply...But the pain was too much and all he could do was whimper from the pain, unable to see much of anything around him._

 _"Hold on chef guy, I'm coming!" Decus quickly looked for something in his pocket's for anything that could be used for a light._

 _"D...D- Nnnnnngh!" Trying to speak or move at all only pained the boy, even just breathing hurt. His wound felt like it was burning from the cold ice that pinned him to the ground, finding it hard to even keep focus, much less die from the pain. He tried to think. But only thought's of dying from frostbite came to mind, along with bleeding out, slowly freezing to death and many more things alike. He was scared as he continued to sob in pain. His heart was racing, as nothing but panic began to sink in._

 _Decus soon found some matches to light up a lantern that Alice had given him and was horrified when he found the boy. He wasn't sure what to do. If he were to free the boy from the ice, he would bleed or freeze to death or had frostbite from the inside and if he left him there, he would just freeze to death. Decus panicked._

 _"H-Hey, chef guy!" Worried as blood began to pour from the boy's mouth._

 _"D...De...cus..." He tried to hack out, as his sobbing, pain, and fear made it hard to speak. He was losing what little feeling in his body was left..._

 _"Chef guy, hold on! You can't die" Decus tried to think of something...But Emil was most likely going to die, no matter what he did._

 _"huu...hh..." Emil couldn't breathe properly anymore..._

 _"Chef guy...I..." Decus looked around them. Even if he could somehow keep the boy alive, there was no getting out while trying to carry him._

 _"Chef guy, I'm really sorry...But I need to go before something happens to Alice-chan and...your not going to make it anyway. I'm sorry!" Decus said with a pained look on his face and with what, the little light he had from the lantern faded into the darkness, as he left Emil to die._

 _Emil was scared, hurt, alone, afraid, in pain, cold and suffering...At this point, all the boy could ask for is one last moment to see Richter, to hear him, smell him, feel him and to be in his arms like before when they were in Flanoir._

 _"R...Ri...Richter...san...help me..." Shutting his eyes tightly, letting the tears flow down his cheeks._


	6. Ch6 So very warm

**_How did it come this?: chapter.6 So very warm._**

 _"What happened!?" Richter growled, shoving Decus against the frozen wall. A moment before this, Decus had left Emil for dead and was spotted by Richter, who started asking him about the shaking in the ice temple. Decus explained that he had been with Emil but ended up having to go their own ways...which was a lie because he actually left the boy for dead, not going their own ways._

 _"I told you already didn't I!" Decus argued back, never exactly liking the half-elf as he glared._

 _"...Just get out of my sight." Richter scoffed, giving a chilling glare at the man._

 _"Tch...!" Decus quickly made his way back to Alice._

 _"..." Richter spotted the hole that Decus had used to escape from and made his way inside. He had Aqua use her powers to turn into a blue lighted lantern to help guide Richter through the dark frozen ruins of the cave. Richter was careful. But his heart slowly began to race the deeper and deeper they got, as a sense of worry began to fill his heart which was exactly the reason why he was even going through the cave because he was worried for the boy._

 _"Richter-sama..." Aqua was worried for her master. But didn't know what to say...as she was worried for Emil as well._

 _"Aqua...Do you sense Ratatosk at all?" He asked, stepping over a big chunk of ice._

 _"Yes, we're getting closer..."_

 _It was only a few more minute's before Richter and Aqua could smell the faint stench of blood. Richter began to move quicker. Aqua was afraid of what Richter might find. But she also knew if the boy had died, he would return to his core...that is...if he really is Ratatosk. But at this point...she was 100% sure...and...if he were to return to core form, then Richter could bring back Aster right...?_

 _Richter finally came across something he wasn't expecting to see. A gathering of monsters all grouped around the same spot. Was it to keep warm? were they scared? lost? hungry? Richter approached them with caution. When Richter got close enough, the monster's surprised him as they all noticed him and seemed to be...happy to see him?_

 _"What?...Why are they looking at me like that Aq-" And just then, Richter began to recognize them. They were all Emil's monsters._

 _"Hmm...?" He suddenly felt the tugging on his pants by the carbuncle Lava that sat at his feet._

 _"Richter-sama, they're saying they need you," Aqua said, worried for the boy._

 _"Alright..." Richter followed the carbuncle to the rest of the monster's group. They all greeted him with smiles, rub's, licks, and nudges. Richter was fine until his eyes widen at the sight of the boy laying in a pull of frozen blood, pale as a sheet._

 _"Emil!" He knelt down to the boy. The salamander Tiera used his heat to try and keep the boy warm, while the selkie's Ziuxo and Hail tried to heal his wounds._

 _"Richter-sama, Jord told me that they removed the huge ice that had stabbed Emil...but they fear something else is wrong with him and most of the monsters are running out of mana to keep up their healing Artes." Aqua explained._

 _"...All of you return to Emil. But Jord, I'll need your help to carry him." Richter commanded. All the monsters did as they were told, trusting the man. Richter very carefully picked Emil up into his arms, getting on top of the Fenrir and quickly having the monster get them out of the cave while he would spend the rest of his mana using healing Artes on the boy._

 _With how numb and pale the boy was, he was sure he had frostbite and wasn't going to make it much longer."Emil...please hang in there..." Richter whispered, holding him close in his arms, hoping to keep him warm enough..._

 _-I remember...that warmth you gave me-_

 _Astonished by the boy, the doctor informed Richter that the boy would make a full recovery as long as he's kept warm and get's plenty of rest. The doctor allowed Richter to stay the night in the hospital to keep an eye on him, just in case he should need anything._

 _"..." Richter knew he had better things to do...But he also knew leaving the boy alone in the hospital wouldn't sit right with him._

 _"Emil..."Richter sat next to Emil's bedside, sitting in a chair as he watched the boy's soft and gentle breathing as he slept, wishing the boy hadn't been so kind and foolish enough to have gotten into such a mess for Dumbo Decus._


	7. Ch7 I am Ratatosk

_**How did it come to this?: chapter.7 I am Ratatosk**_

 _It was quite early in the morning as the sun's light hadn't quite come through. Richter was already up by this time as he stood by the window, watching the sky slowly change with every seconded that went by as the sun took it's good old time to raise, welcoming the half-elf with its warm raises on his face._

 _In this time alone, Richter took this moment to think long and hard about what he was doing. Why had he saved the boy when he could have just as easily killed him right then and there to take Ratatosk's core? Had he become too close to the boy that Aster was out of reach? "No" He whispered. For years he had looked for a way to save Aster and if it means to take the life of a man who killed that very friend, then...it will and must be done. His face can't stop him anymore._

 _"Chef guy!" Suddenly the loud voice of Decus shot into the room, breaking Richter of his thought's. He turned around to see the blue-haired idiot, holding a mess of flowers in his hands._

 _"I knew you would make it chef guy!"_

 _"Quit your yelling, he's sleeping" Richter scolded._

 _"O-Oops"_

 _"And at any rate, your the one who left him for dead." Richter shot a cold glare at the man._

 _"About that, I really am sorry" He scratched the back of his head, leaving the flowers by the boy's bedside._

 _"..." A cold glare of death._

 _"I-I said sorry!" Decus pleaded for his life, however, the truth was, Decus always wished that he could get rid of Richter once and for all._

 _"..." Richter turned away and sighed, tired of dealing with the idiot._

 _"It's okay, I forgive him" The boy voiced in, sitting up on his bed. Richter and Decus were both surprised to see the boy up already._

 _"Chef guy, you're too kind!" He wrapped his arms around the boy, rubbing their cheeks together._

 _"Hahaha, D-Decus t-that hurt's a bit" The boy chuckled at the man's goofy way of showing affection._

 _"I promise to make it up to you chef guy! Anyway, my darling Alice-chan needs me elsewhere, so take care" Decus excused himself and left the room, heading back to the half-elf girl of his dream's, waiting for him outside of the building._

 _"Emil...How are you feeling?" He asked._

 _"Much better than before...I was really scared..." The boy trembled a bit, clenching the sheets that covered his leg's._

 _"That's good, then we need to leave," Richter said a bit coldly. Emil may be feeling better. But he wasn't exactly ready to go adventuring._

 _"A-Alright..." Emil nodded, as refusing Richter wouldn't get them anywhere._

 _The sun was already up, and the two were already headed out the door. Emil was still tired and didn't want to walk around. But he had no choice if he didn't want Richter to leave him behind or slow Richter down by forcing them to stay in town and rest. Richter knew he was most likely pushing the boy. But they needed to leave town because this would be the last time he and Emil ever travel together again._

* * *

 _Once the two were far away enough from the town, Richter came to a halt, forcing the boy to stop behind him. Emil looked around the green field around them with nothing but rocks and grass in sight._

 _"Where is this?" Emil asked. looking up at the back of the man's head._

 _"...Tell me, Emil, do you remembering anything else in those vision's of me killing you?" He suddenly asked, not even turning to face the boy. Emil wasn't sure what was going on, or why Richter was asking him that. But dismissed the thought._

 _"Not really...everything else before is a blur" He explains, tucking his chin under his scarf._

 _"..." Richter turned to face Emil. Startling him as he took a tight grip on his sword and ax, drawing them from their sheaths._

 _"Richter-san?"_

 _"This should help you remember, Emil." Richter suddenly swung his blade at the boy. Emil stepped back and tripped over a small stone. He fell to the ground, trying to cease the trembling in his body as the man was scaring him. He eyes the blade that was pointed between his eyes before looking up at the man._

 _"Emil, draw your weapon."_

 _"B-But-"_

 _"Do it!" The sudden harshness of Richter's tone startled the boy. He quickly scampered to his feet and drew his weapon before looking back at the man. The coldness in his green eyes scared him...He didn't like those eyes staring at him like that...It hurt him._

 _"Richter-san, what are you doing!?" The boy asked, not wanting to fight the man as a heavy sick feeling began to fill his stomach like a heavy iron ball._

 _"...For Aster, you will die Ratatosk!" Richter slashed at the boy. Emil was stunned by the man's words. His eyes faded into crimson and quickly dodged the attack before it was too late._

 _"You bastard!" Ratatosk glared at the man. Pain, hate, and betrayal lied behind his eyes as he gritted his teeth._

 _"Do you remember?" Richter asked as he stared at him._

 _"...Yeah...I started to remember after Emil fainted down in the ice cave...I am Ratatosk and Emil is my conscious...We made a pact with Aster's soul out of guilt for killing him in hopes we could help him help you stop grieving..."_

 _"That's enough from you!" He growled before coming at the summon spirit, slashing his sword at him. Ratatosk blocked the attack, struggling to fight back the man's stronger physical strength._

 _D-Damn it...! I thought...I thought I could rely on you!" He cried out before pushing the man back. Richter dismissed the summon spirit's words as he ran across to get a better angle on the boy, and tossed his ax. Ratatosk quickly blocked it. But the impact was so hard that it sent the boy flying into a large stone wall across the cliff from them that had a rushing river beneath it. The stone wall crumbled from the summon spirit's impact, causing huge splashes as the stone hit the water._

 _"..." Richter waited for a response from the summon spirit, paying close attention to the stone wall as he waited for the dust cloud to clear._

 _"HAAAAAAAA!" Ratatosk jumped out from the crater, tossing back the man's weapon, as he came down with a sword spin. Richter quickly caught his ax, and swung his sword out to deflect the boy's attack._

* * *

 _The two continued to fight for hours. The land around them looked like it was attacked with bombs and although Richter had many cut's and scratches, he was nowhere nearly as tired and beaten as the boy. Ratatosk was covered in wounds, not to mention the pain of the frostbitten wound that was aching at his stomach again. He was tired and clearly outmatched as he fell to one knee. Richter knew the boy was running out of stamina, ready to finally end this._

 _"R...Richter..." Red eyes looked up at the men, as his body trembled from its own weight._

 _"..." Richter slowly approached the boy, looking down on him._

 _"Richter...I thought you were the one person who I could trust..." He then lost his grip on his weapon, letting it drop to the ground. His gaze dropped from the man's face to the ground beneath him._

 _"..." Richter stood before the boy, slowly pulling his sword up. "Emil...I'm sorry it ended up this way. Goodbye Ratatosk."_

 _"Damn it!" Ratatosk couldn't understand, why did it have to be this way? Why did he mean so little to Richter? Why couldn't Richter let Aster go and be his friend? Why couldn't Richter stop this stupid idea? Why...Why couldn't Richter love him instead...?_

 _"Richter...san" Red eyes faded back to their green color as they looked up at the man._

 _"Emil..." Richter struggled to move his body. It refused to stab the boy in front of him, the small sweet boy who he had grown to care for in just a little amount of time, the very boy who always called him kind and cool._

 _And within just a mere few second's, Richter shut his eyes as he swung his blade. He clenched his fists tightly, feeling like such a fool._

 _"Emil...forgive me."_


	8. Ch8 together forever

_**How did it come to this: chapter.8 Together forever**_

Emil quivered in fear, as he swore he was to be killed. but instead...was spared of his life. Emil couldn't understand why after all that, did Richter suddenly seem to decide not to kill him?

Emil held his stomach, feeling the wound reopen, blood seeping through his clothing. He doesn't even know how to feel about anything anymore..."Aagh!" Emil let out a cry of pain and suddenly felt the touch of a warm hand place itself over his wound and could feel the pain slowly ease as his tear filled eyes looked up to see the older man. Richter had his usual expression. But this time...Emil could see regret, pain, and worry...as he tended his wound with First Aid.

"Richter-san..."

"..."

"Richter-san...why...are you doing this...?

"..."

"..." Emil didn't know what to say or even think...and despite what had happened, Emil couldn't help but continue to trust and believe in Richter.

"...Emil...I wanted to see us as enemies...But..I couldn't end your life..."

"Richter-san...?"

"I thought...I could do it, and save Aster...But I couldn't..."

"Richter-san..."

"..." Richter had finished closing the boy's wound, and the two continued sitting in silence. Emil didn't know what to say anymore...He wasn't even angry, he just wanted to know that Richter cared for him...Protect him and be kind to him like he use to.

"Emil...Do you know how long you've actually been asleep since the ice temple?"

"What? Richter-san...what do you mean?"

"You've been out a whole weak..."

"...What?!" Emil couldn't believe it. how could it have been that long?

"Your friends have continued to search for you...and are finally ready to fight Brute."

"R-Really?...I can't believe...I missed all of it"

"..."

"...What do I do? Where do I go...? I don't know what to do anymore...!" Emil felt so far off track from his original journey with Marta. He couldn't believe how out of control everything had gotten, much less having to take in everything now that he knew he was Ratatosk.

"Emil..Come with me"

"Huh...?" Emil looked up at the man who was now stood up before him.

"Come to the Ginnungagap with me..." Richter then offered Emil his hand.

"...But..." Emil wasn't sure if it was a good idea or what they would do there...But in the end...he took Richter's hand and was pulled up to his feet.

"Richter-san...I'll go with you..."

What would be the point of going with him? What would it do? What if it was a trap? He should ask where and how he could get back to Marta. But for some reason...he was feeling like going back to her wasn't an option anymore...And maybe going with Richter wouldn't be a bad thing. After all, he said he couldn't bring himself to kill him...So there was a good chance Richter wouldn't do anything to him.

* * *

Emil had the sense of home sweet home when they finally arrived. He looked around and instantly knew what everything was and that keeping the demon's from getting loose was and still is, his top priority as Ratatosk, lord of monster's, summon spirit of the giant tree.

"Richter-san...why did you bring me here?" Emil asked.

"I couldn't kill you...so I...I have no choice but to lay Aster to rest..."

"B-But Richter-san...he's your best friend..." Emil couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I know...But if I can't kill you...then how can I bring him back?" It was true, without the death of Ratatosk, the demons wouldn't be able to return Aster to him.

"...Richter-san...Why couldn't you do it?" Emil asked, bringing his hands up to his stomach nervously, as he could only imagine what Richter was going through.

"...Because...I guess there's a part of me...that would rather protect you...then end your life..." He explained.

Tears began to well up in the boy's eyes, always wishing Richter would care for him...It was finally happening, all the little and yet so precious time that they spent together, really did matter to Richter.

"Emil..." Richter almost wanted to smile at the boy's childish happiness.

"Richter-san..." The boy's eyes suddenly turn red, and eyes the man.

"...Ratatosk..." Richter didn't glare, and he didn't want to kill him...He honestly didn't know what to do or how to feel.

"Richter...I forgive you...Because now I know..you didn't really mean to betray me like Mithos...you just wanted Aster back...and it's my fault he's gone..."

"..." Richter could have only wished that Ratatosk would have spared Aster his life...But then, he would have never met Emil...So...maybe, in a way...losing Aster was just a part of coming to know Emil and moving this world forward.

"Richter...I need all of my Centurion's, or the demons might escape" He said, with a glance towards the large gate behind them.

"...I guess now would be a good time to mention how killing you would bring Aster back" Richter suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"Killing you would have freed the demon who promised to bring Aster back and to help open the gate, I started the Vanguards to help the negative energy that the demon's needed to help weaken the seal on the gate."

"You idiot! God, why are you and the stupid human's so stupid!?" Ratatosk growled.

"...getting back on track. I'll tell the Vanguard members that are under my control to stop attacking" Richter sighed.

"Alright, then...I'll go see Marta about my cores and then Lloyd for the rest," Ratatosk said.

"Actually...I was thinking I would do that"

"What? Why?" Ratatosk questioned, wondering how much more naive Richter could get.

"Because...in case you forgot, your still not fully healed, and leaving you to yourself might get you hurt" Richter explained as he examined the blood stain on the boy's clothes, feeling guilty for having made the wound reopen, despite healing it previously.

"Shut up, I candle myself!" Ratatosk growled.

"Says the same person who almost got killed just for firewood" He sighed.

"S-Shut up!" Ratatosk's cheeks heated up as the embarrassing memory came to mind.

"Anyway, I'll handle everything while you stay here" And like that, Richter began to walk away.

"Wait!" Ratatosk then grabbed the man's arm. "You can't do it alone..."

"He's not alone, he has me!" Aqua suddenly appeared. Both turned their head to see the centurion.

"Yes, thank you Aqua" Richter smiled a bit.

"A-Anything for you Richter-sama!" She giggled, blushing as the man's handsome smile.

"But since you won't be using the powers of the demon's, you'll need my powers" Ratatosk explained. As much as Richter hated to admit it, he did tend to use the demon's power's a lot.

"So...make a pact with me"

"...Emil" Richter was almost surprised to hear those words. "But I'm not a summoner." He explained.

"S-So!? Lloyd isn't either. But he has my sister Manna with him, or who you people call Martel" He explained.

"I see...Alright then"

"Okay, good" The boy huffed.

"W-Wow, Richter-sama is going to make a pact with Ratatosk-sama!" Aqua could only call Richter a god at this point, that's just how cool he is.

The two stood, facing each other as they gazed into each other's eyes. "Now make your vow...a vow that you promise to never break," Ratatosk asked, making sure Richter understood as he didn't want to be betrayed again.

"Alright..." Richter took a moment as he stared at the boy and felt his heart pound against his chest. "My vow...Ratatosk, lend me your powers, so long as I promise to love you for the rest of my remaining life..." Aqua's eyes widen in surprise, blushing at what she found to be super romantic. Ratatosk, on the other hand, was so lost for word, feeling his heart pound against his chest so hard that it almost hurt, feeling his face burn up like a fire. It was the brightest Richter had ever seen it.

"W...What kind of vow is that!?" It was hard for him to stop the shaking in his hands.

"...It just felt right, Emil" Richter not once, stopped gazing at the boy, nor did he lose his composure.

"R-Richter...san..."Gazing back at the man, Ratatosk's right eye turned green for a moment while his left remained red.

"So...is my vow good enough? Or should I think up something else?" He asked.

"N-No! I mean...i-it's fine!" His right eye returns to red and tries to recompose himself. His body glowed as he shared his powers with Richter, connecting them through a spiritual link that bound them together.

"Good..." Richter could feel Emil with him...feeling the new power surge through him.

"G-Go to Marta and just call for me once you need me..." He crossed his arms, realizing just how hard it is to look the man in the eyes now.

"And how should I call for your powers?"

"J-Just look deep inside yourself and you should feel me within you" He blushed, gazing back at the man with cheeks still flushed red.

"Alright..."

"J-Just don't take too long!"

"Right..." And just before Richter could leave "Be careful Richter-san" Emil called from behind. Richter then suddenly turned around and approached the boy.

"Emil.."

"R-Richter-san...?"

"I love you.." And then, he gently pressed his lips against the boy's soft pair, feeling those soft smaller pairs of hands cling to the collar of his coat.

"I-I love you too...Richter" Emil replied. "W-We'll be waiting for you"

"Right" Both shared a smile with red cheeks, however, Richter's cheeks were a much softer red then Emil's bright red cheeks.

* * *

Richter rode across the ocean and through the forest with the help of Aqua's monster's, along with Emil's. Now that Richter had made a pact with him, he was able to summon the monsters at will. Aqua still couldn't believe that Richter and her old master were in love. But at the same time, even though it broke her heart..it also made her happy and wondered if Aster was watching Richter now, watching him smile, falling in love with someone.

"Richter-sama, I can sense them on the top floor!" Aqua said as the two made their way into the Lezerano company building.

"Alright then." Richter then quickly made his way through the building, and as he did so, he made sure to tell all of the Vanguard soldier's to stop attacking the people of Sylverant and to lay their weapon's down...and if they didn't, they would meet the sharp end of his blade, which seemed to convince them well.

"Papa!" Marta called out as she ran to her father, who was just stabbed by Decus. Raine also aided Brute, telling Marta to awaken the core. But just before she could, She was quickly attacked. But luckily Lloyd was there and blocked the attack to protect Marta.

"You..!" Lloyd snarled a bit as he eyed down the half-elf.

"Lloyd Irving..." Richter glared and quickly pulled away.

"R-Richter? Decus said Emil was with you!? What did you do to Emil!?" Marta cried, pulling her weapon's out.

"That doesn't matter anymore." He scoffed.

"What!? But-"

"-Give me the core!" Decus shouted. No longer sane, he began attacking everyone.

"Marta, the core, hurry!" Raine said, still trying to focus on healing Brute.

"R-Right!" Just as Marta was going to grab the core, Aqua had snatched it away and floated behind Richter.

"Oh no!" Marta cried out, turning her head towards the half-elf and centurion.

"Aqua, you-..." Tenebrae suddenly realizing something about Richter...he was feeling Ratatosk by him but how? "Ratatosk-sama...?"

"Tenebrae?" Marta looked to the dark Centurion with, worried what might be bothering him.

"Richter-sama, you should be able to hatch the core," Aqua said, hoping Tenebrae would further get the hint.

"Right"

"What!?" Lloyd only then could suddenly feel that Richter had made a pact with Ratatosk.

Without a moment sooner, Richter hatched the core, freeing Decus of his mad mind. The core had suddenly gone into him, passing through his mana and back into Ratatosk. Lloyd couldn't believe what was going on, and was almost wondering if Emil had gotten his memories back and if so, was he helping Richter try to destroy humanity?

"N-No, he took the core!" Marta said.

"But won't this guy lose his mind now?" Zelos asked.

"No...He has Ratatosk's protection." Lloyd said.

"What!?" Was all that everyone could think to say.

"That's right, Ratatosk has chosen to help Richter-sama," Aqua said proudly with a smile.

"B-But why would he...Why!?" Marta couldn't believe what was going on, especially after everything she had gone through to try and awaken him.

"Aqua" Richter called.

"Right!" She then summoned all her monster's. Richter called upon Ratatosk's power's and summoned Emil's monster's as well.

"Alright everyone, fight off all those that get in Richter-sama's way!" Aqua said. The room was crowded and overrun with monsters. Keeping Lloyd and friends busy, giving Richter a chance to attack Marta.

"AAAA!" Marta cried. Richter quickly and swiftly attacked the girl, taking every core on her, quickly making his way out of the building as he leaped out of the window, landing on the back of Aqua's Orca.

"Wait!" In the mess of things, Tenebrae quickly chased after Richter and Aqua.

"T-Tenebrae!" Marta called out.

After all the monster's had been dealt with. Lloyd finally decides to explain everything to everyone. He told everyone that even Emil was actually Ratatosk and why he had been so quiet all this time. Lloyd hated keeping quiet about everything to his friends but up and leaving Zelos without a word was the hardest part, so finally being able to tell everyone was a huge weight lifted off his chest.

But now with the chance of Ratatosk working with Richter to destroy humanity, things were getting serious.

* * *

Richter sat in the woods, not too far from Altamira but before he could hatch the core, Tenebrae had finally caught up with him and Aqua.

"Richter...What's the meaning of this...Why do I sense Ratatosk-sama with you? Is what Lloyd said true?"

"..That's right, I formed a pack with Emil" He said.

"I see...then allow me to give you my aid...after all, I only wish to serve Ratatosk-sama in any way I can"

"Very well then."

"What!? Not this Tene-bonehead!" Aqua argues as she pouted, turning away from the dark Centurion.

"I won't ask why...I'll just trust and believe in what Ratatosk-sama is doing.

"..." Richter nodded and watched as the two Centurion's both returned to their shapeless form, waiting for Richter's order's when suddenly Richter could hear the sound of Ratatosk's voice in his head.

"R-Richter...hurry up, the demon's are starting to break out on their own! I need all of my Centurion's before that happens..!"

"Right...I just got the rest back from Marta"

"You did? D-Did you hurt her...?"

"...No" That was a lie...mostly.

"Whatever...just get Lumen back from Lloyd"

"I know...I'll be back soon, I think Lloyd might be coming to us soon," Richter said just before returning the rest of the cores through his mana to Ratatosk and quickly made his way back to the Ginnungagap to meet up with Emil and wait for Lloyd and the rest of his friends.

Once Richter had returned, he was suddenly greeted with a smaller pair of arms wrapped around him. "Richter-san!" Emil smiled brightly, and although he was happy to see him, Richter could see the struggle Emil was dealing with from the looks of the gate, things weren't going so well.

"Emil...how are you holding up?" He asked, holding the boy close.

"I'm okay... I'm just glad Lloyd didn't hurt you...But I am worried about Marta and everyone else.." Suddenly his eyes became red.

"But we won't need to worry about them. They have the Dheris emblem with them...So only Marta and Lloyd will be an issue" He explained.

"And whys that?" Richter asked.

"Because Mithos betrayed me...I made sure that he wouldn't be able to return without turning to stone.."

"I see. But why not Mart and Lloyd?"

"Because Marta still technically has my protection and Lloyd, as I said, has my sister's protection."

"Alright then...they'll be here soon," Richter said, as he carefully listened for their footsteps.

"Alright..." Ratatosk looked down at his stomach, holding it gently as his cheeks flushed a bit.

"..?" Richter noticed the boy's odd expression. "What is it?" He asked as he arched a brow.

"W-Well...after we made a pact, I feel like I've been healing faster..." His cheeks burned a bit brighter.

"I see..." Richter then began to close the small gap between him and boy.

"W-What now you perv!?" Red eyes glare.

"Perv?" He questioned. "This is new," He said.

"Y-Yeah...making me agree to such a stupid vow...It's perverted" He explained, embarrassed just remembering it.

"It was your choice to accept my words of love..." He slowly pulled the boy into his arms, holding him close.

"Y-Yeah but...you didn't have to be so blunt..." He said, as his eyes slowly faded back to green. "Richter-san...Thank you..." Was all he whispered before feeling the man's lips connecting with his once again. He felt like his heart might burst at any moment. Richter could feel the boy slowly tremble from beneath his grasp. But at this very moment...he wasn't going to stop and let the boy rest his heart because this time...he deepened the kiss. Emil practically gasped when he felt the other man's tongue roam the inside of his mouth and drooled when he felt their tongue's come together in a romantic dance.

"R-...Richter-san..." Emil huffed, as a thin thread of saliva connected them.

"Emil..." Richter whispered, apparently having more lung capacity then Emil. The two gazed into each other's eyes. Emil almost shivered in a nervous delight as he felt Richter's warm hands take hold of his shoulder's, rubbing them gently with his thumbs as he leaned back in for another kiss, however...Richter turned his attention to the two that stood in front of the entryway, turning his head to look over his should to see a brokenhearted Marta and pissed off Lloyd.

"Release Zelos and the other's from the stone trap now!" Lloyd said. Marta couldn't help but Notice how Zelos was always first on Lloyd's mind...

"M-Marta, Lloyd!?" Emil felt so embarrassed that Marta and Lloyd had almost seen them kiss. And the only reason why Emil doesn't plan to kill Lloyd, is because, with Solem back in his control, Solem had explained to Emil that he had helped Decus murder his fake parent's and that it wasn't really Lloyd who did...Those people may not have actually been his parent's, but they were still people none the less.

"Emil...what's going on..? Why are you helping Richter when he's the bad guy!?" Marta said as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Marta, Richter-san isn't a bad person..." Emil said, stepping in front of the older man.

"But..."

"No wait, He might be telling the truth Marta...Richter wanted Ratatosk dead to open the Demon's gate...But he made a pact with him instead" Lloyd said as he took a moment to realize that maybe, Richter really wasn't bad anymore.

"Oh yeah...so then...?" Marta trailed off, looking back at the two.

"Richter-san is helping me keep the gate closed...he already tried to kill me and failed, so...-"

"-I'm leaving Aster rest..." Richter said, clenching his fists tightly, but the pain subsided when he felt Emil reach for his hand, holding it tightly as their fingers locked together.

"Emil...Richter..." Marta not only couldn't believe what she was hearing, she couldn't believe what she was seeing either...Her heart was broken and yet, she was glad to hear that the world wasn't in danger.

"Emil...I knew I could count on you, you were able to not only change Richter...but you even found all of your memories without losing spirit" Lloyd said with a smile.

"Yeah...and...Sorry for blaming you, Lloyd...I may not really know you. But...I can tell your really amazing" Emil said, smiling.

"You think so? Well, thanks anyway" Lloyd smiled brightly at Emil, blushing a bit.

"Now...hand me Lumen's core, before- Ngh..!" Emil held his body tightly, falling to his knees.

"Emil!" Richter quickly knelt down to the boy. "The gate..."

"Right, quickly Emil, take Lumen back.." Lloyd then handed the core to Emil. Emil took the core from Lloyd and hatched it, finally regaining his powers. Giving him just enough power to place a new seal on the gate and keep it shut well enough to keep the world safe.

"So..does that mean, we're all safe now?" Marta asked.

"...The gate is closed But I'll still need my Centurion's to use their monster's if I plan to restore the flow of Manna in the world." Ratatosk explained.

"I see, thank you, Emil," Lloyd said.

"...Now to release your friends"

Ratatosk then released Lloyd's friends from their stone prison, however...everyone couldn't help but feel like Lloyd was more worried about Zelos then the other's. Once the group was informed of what was going on. Ratatosk explained that in order to keep his power's in better shape, he would need more monster's under his and the Centurion's control.

"So then..what will you do?" Marta asked.

"Well..now that I have Richter as my pact maker...and the gate is safely sealed off...I can go anywhere I please to form pacts with monster's." He explained.

"I see..." She lowered her head, knowing fully well that the chance of her and Emil was gone forever.

"Alright then, take care Ratatosk," Lloyd said before walking off, with the rest of his friend.

"Just...take care of yourself okay..?" Marta said before going off to catch up with the others.

"...I suppose I'll go back to traveling the world" Richter said.

"Then I'll just have to come with you" He grinned.

"I wouldn't have it any other way...Emil"

"Richter-san..." Red eyes returned to green and smiled at the man.

And so...Emil saved the world and even Richter. Who knew everything would have ended up so differently from just small action's...Aster could finally move on now that Richter was free. Lloyd could finally return to his travel's with Zelos...at least once he and Zelos told every one of their relationship. Marta could return to her father's side while Decus and Alice were free to do as they please...And Emil would spend the rest of his days with Richter, forever traveling together.


	9. Ex-Ch9 Mana

**_How did it come to this?: Extra chapter. Mana_**

It had been at least a whole two weeks since the making of Ratatosk and Richter's pact and although Richter seemed used to Ratatosk's mana by now, it was Ratatosk who was still getting used to the feeling of Richter's mana flowing through him when a special Artes was used. Being that Richter was a half-elf, he was much better at dealing with mana. Ratatosk, on the other hand, has never done anything like this before with any human, unlike most spirits, who have for years been sharing their mana with humans. Despite being in control of the flow of mana in the world, it was much different when direct tethering with Richter. Although it had only been two weeks, Ratatosk always got these strange feeling whenever Richter would cast a much stronger Arte.

"Ain Soph Aur!" Ratatosk called out, destroying his foes. The battle wasn't over yet but he was breathing heavily as though he were out of breath as his cheeks were a burning pink color. He was trying to stay focused and ignore whatever it was that was wrong...but that was going to be more of an issue than he thought, as the more Richter borrowed Ratatosk's mana for casting more powerful Artes, he was losing more and more focus on the battle.

"Huff...Huff...Aaaagh!" Ratatosk continued to swing his sword towards his enemy, feeling his legs begin to tremble beneath his weight. Richter, on the other hand, was fighting off his share of the enemies and was paying no mind to the summon spirit.

"Negative Gate!" Ratatosk could Hear Richter call out the Arte, feeling their mana swop, feeling his body heat up more, finding it hard to even want to move from the spot he stood in.

"Grave!" Richter called out. Ratatosk could now feel his heart beating against his chest, sweating more than usual when fighting. With each swing of his sword, the steel in his hands seemed to get heavier and heavier as well.

"Title wave!" And just then, Ratatosk dropped his weapon and fell to his knees, feeling the heat in his body increase more, palms sweating as an unusual amount of saliva began to well up in his mouth. Where is this coming from?

"Thunder Blade!" It was at this Arte that Ratatosk had gasped and fallen to his hands in a dog position as he started to pant from the growing heat that now seemed to be pinpointed his lower waistband area, dripping with sweat.

" U-Unh...R...Richter" He could just barely manage the words as his body quivered, feeling every once of blood rush to his face as it burned heavily in a crimson red color.

"Explosion!" Richter's voice now sounded as though it was right next to Ratatosk's ear, sending chills through his body.

"A-Aaaahn...!~" Ratatosk could no longer stop his painting or the soft moans that escaped his lips. Leaving his mouth open with a thick endless stream of saliva leaked from the sides of his mouth. Uncontrollably he began to rub his two right fingers against his tongue, wishing to suck on something but couldn't seem to cease the moaning or panting long enough to even start sucking on his own fingers.

"Hurricane!" At this point, Ratatosk already lost what little senses he had left, only hearing Richter's incredible voice and the hot and extreme tension in his body as the moaning grew louder, fingers no longer in his mouth but clasped around the source of all his heat as he tugged and pulled with every second, calling out the half-elf's name over and over. Despite already feeling his fingers and pants covered in a thick sticky wet mess, his member continued to throb, continuing to feel Richter's mana invade him, craving more, and more, and- "More! R-Richter...g-give me more...!~~" Ratatosk couldn't look anymore erotic than he did now.

"Emil." Richter called to the boy as the battle was finished and realizing the young blond was on all fours, shaking like crazy, only hearing the panted sounds of "Richter" coming from the boy's lips, unable to see his face.

"Emil" Richter called out once more but this time he was a bit worried as something seemed wrong with him. He kneeled down by his side and reached for his shoulder but as soon as he laid a finger on him, Ratatosk had fallen over with the most week and flushed face he had ever seen on the boy. Richter was silent but shocked and even a bit turned on when he saw the boys face. Paying closer attention, the boy's pants were wet and sticky to the touch and his hand covered in the same substance that his pants were wet with, saliva running down his mouth, his body was coated in sweat.

"E...Emil" Richter could guess many things with what this looked like and he knew the boy wasn't the type of person to do something like this in the first place, much less in the middle of battle...So then, what happened?

"R...Richter..." Dizzy looking red eyes glanced at the man with such a weak and lustful gaze as he tried to manage a grin.

"Emil, what happened?" He asked and as long as he wasn't raped by a monster, it would be fine. (If he was Raped by a human, that person would die very...VERY brutally and painfully)

"R-Richter...san's...m...mana..." Ratatosk huffed, as he was now too consumed by slumber. His eyelids heavy as the haze of sleep clouded his mind.

"My mana?" Richter questioned but it was no use, the summon spirit had already drifted off into his much-needed slumber. He sighed and tried not to think about it too much as he would be able to just ask the boy in the morning, so for now, he carried him to the nearest town and reserved a room for them

* * *

After Richter had gotten Emil rested in bed, he sat beside the boy reading his book. Once it was late in the night, Ratatosk awoke and blushed when he recalled his most recent events before drifting off to sleep. He blushed vibrantly at the thought.

"So your finally awake?" Richter, sitting beside him on the bed. Ratatosk looked over, almost surprised by the man's voice and turns his head towards him.

"And your still up?"

Richter sighs and shrugs the boy's words. "You mentioned something about my mana before you fell asleep." He said as he closed the book in his hand and set it down on the nightstand by his bedside, as well as his glasses.

"Y-Yeah..." Ratatosk nervously replied.

"Did that have to do with...what happened?" Ratatosk instantly lit up in a darker shade of red at the man's words.

"Look, what does it matter?" Ratatosk replied as he regains his composure.

"Because if we're going to fight, I can't have you doing that again." He scoffed and crossed his arms and continued his words.

"And this isn't normal behavior for a summon spirit" He finished.

"...I think it's because of our feelings towards each other, as well as the foundation of our pact" Ratatosk explained.

"I see...I suppose that makes sense, especially when you consider the fact that summon spirit's normally don't fall in love" Richter said, lightly putting a hand to his chin as he thought about the summon spirit's conclusion, logging it in his brain while also making a mantel note.

"Is this always going to be an issue?" He asked, looking back into those crimson red eyes.

"No...I think over time my body should become accustomed to it" The boy replied, slightly annoyed that Richter called it an issue.

"Then I suggest we quicken that prosses" Richter said. The bed creaked as the man moved closer.

"W-What are you...?" Ratatosk blushed, feeling the usual nervousness Emil felt but fought the feeling and shoved the man away. He glared a bit while the older man remained stoic and calm, only making the boy feel like a nervous wreck.

"Emil...Ratatosk" Richter said in a low voice, refusing to break eye contact.

"J-Just shut up and go to sleep you stupid half-elf" Ratatosk growled.

"I don't think I will," Richter said just before sending some of his mana to the summon spirit. Ratatosk's eyes instantly widen to the man's action, blushing a dark red as that same exhausted feeling came over him as he began to pant, feeling his body heat up.

"What's wrong?" Richter asked smugly.

"Y-You bastard..." The boy huffed, feeling another wave of Richter's mana hit him and saliva began to build in his mouth. He reached for the older man, managing to curl his fingers around the collar of the man's white shirt. Richter's coat was already removed as well as his shoes and gloves, which made the boy realize his own shoes and gloves were missing, even his scarf...

"It's better you get used to it then getting killed because of this" Richter said in his usual tone and put his arms over the boy's back, letting his hands rest on on his waist. Just to spite the man, Ratatosk pinched the man's ear and pulled on it. He grunted and simply applied more of his mana, only to feel his own groin become a bit excited by the boy's soft moan.

"Emil..." Richter whispered in the boy's ear, pulling him closer into his arms until Emil was sat in his lap.

"Richter...san..."Crismon eyes soften to their usual green. The boy clung to him, pressing his forehead against the man's chest, feeling his body continuously being invaded by the older man's mana. Panting with soft moans with his mouth hanging open as his saliva began to drool down onto Richter's lower abdomen.

"You're making a mess," Richter said, lifting the boy's face.

"S...Sorry..." Embarrassed and out of habit, Emil couldn't help but apologize.

Richter sighed, trying to fight the building heat in his groin. "Don't apologize" And just then the boy moaned loudly and slowly starts to grind his groin into Richter's, panting and moaning as he called out the mans name after Richter sent one last large dose of his mana. He groans and seals the boy's lips as he presses their lips together with force, slipping his tongue inside and tangling their tongues together. Slowly sliding his hands down the boy's waist. His much larger and warmer hands find their way under the fabric of the boy's pants, reaching for his member.

"R-Richter-san...n...no" Emil tried to protest as he had never felt Richter's hands touch him there before. Richter's hands were almost cold and yet so hot at the same time and feeling those very hands squeeze and jerk his member made him want to move his hits, to feel close to Richter. And said man tried to remain composed as he watched the boy but he was finding it to be quite difficult...as he had needed this for a long, long time now...and Emil was and is, exactly what he's needed.

Thank you Aster...for moving the world into this direction, or I might have never met this boy...please rest in peace.

Richter suddenly sat up and pushed the boy down, slightly startling the blond. Emil eyed him with such dazed expression with cheeks red as crimson, his chest falling and raising with his body slowly coating itself in sweat with drool running down his mouth. It was at this moment when looking at the boy that Richter couldn't wait anymore or even think about preparing the boy for the next coming events, he just knew he wanted him and he wanted him NOW.

"Emil...I'm sorry but I need you to bear the pain for a moment..." Richter whispered into the boy's ear before getting to work on removing his clothes and quickly removing the boy's, wasting almost no time at all. Emil didn't quite understand but it was hard to think when all he could hear was Ratatosk begging for Richter to do more to them from the back of his mind. When Emil could finally register exactly what was going on, he realized he was already naked, as well as the older man who was propping up his thinner leg's over the older man's much broader and hotter shoulders. They practically melted the skin on his calves.

"Emil..."Richter whispered, making direct eye contact with the boy.

"R-Richter-san..." Emil whispered back, hearing Ratatosk in his mind.

"Richter, h-hurry and do it...! Give it to us! Thrust hard and deep, s-so stop wasting your time and do it damn it!"

After taking note of Ratatosk's words, Emil says- "Richter-san...p-please g-give it to...us" As embarrassing as that was for Emil, Richter was almost shocked to hear the boy say those words but smiled a bit before finally alining himself with the boy's entrance. He presses the tip of his own member to the entrance before pushing in slowly as to not hurt the boy too much. Emil instantly arches his back and shuts his eyes tightly as he tries to overcome the pain. Richter leans forward over the boy as he stands over him on all four. His presses his lips to the boy's forehead to reassure him before slowly sliding the rest of himself inside. Emil felt the pain surging through his body but once Richter started to move, he could feel his body slowly adjusting to it, slowly feeling the pain become replaced with a new and overwhelming sense of pleasure flood his body.

S-So big and hot!

Emil would have blushed a brighter red at his counterpart's words but there wasn't a brighter shade of red than the one he was already. He moaned, leaving his mouth open for other noised to escape his lips, only opening his eyes slightly every so often to see the man's face. Once Richter could tell Emil was used to the feeling, he quickly began to pick up his speed and was adding enough force to shake and ram their bed into the wall in front of them. With the force he was using, it allowed him to feel deeper into the boy. He grunted and groaned at the tight hot insides of the boy squeeze and pull at his weapon.

"E-Emil" Richter was losing his control as he thrusted with even greater force, finding more speed to put behind it. Both of them were sweating from head to toe as they could feel themselves create the true meaning of their pact as they became as one together in this moment as even their mana came together through this event. After a long enough span of time had passed, they could both feel themselves reaching their limits.

"R-Richter-san...c...come inside," Emil said before wrapping his arms around the man's neck, feeling exactly what he and Ratatosk wanted when they felt that hot wet mess release itself all inside him, while at the same time releasing his own mess on the older man's stomach. Richter did pull out of the boy but the remained just as close to share a final kiss before letting themselves rest their tired bodies. Both lied on the bed with chests heaving but only for a moment. Emil cuddled up against the man's chest with those warm and strong arms wrapped around him, slowly drifting off to sleep to the sound of the man's light breathing and the rhythm to the raising and lowering of the man's chest. Richter nuzzled his nose in the boy's hair, feeling his smaller frame in his arms...never wanting to let go.


	10. Ex-ch10 Valentines day

**How did it come to this?: Valentine Extra**

It was finally a whole two months since the making of their pact, since everything that happened...To Emil, it felt like forever ago that all of that happened. Meeting Richter in Palmacosta, visiting the Vanguard base together, camping out, embracing in Flanoir, and forming their pact and saving the world. Emil and Ratatosk couldn't be happier, they loved and enjoyed their time together with Richter and thankfully, the half-elf could say the same.

Currently, the two were camped out at a beautiful hidden pond where Lloyd had once found a Unicorn. Richter was deep in his papers, taking notes, jotting stuff down and reading through the various sheets of paper, leaving Emil to his journal. While writing in his journal, Emil was taking the time to date his current page, when he suddenly realized that Valentine's day was today. Emil quickly sprung to his feet and blushed madly. This was his and Richter's first Valentine's day, so they had to celebrate. Richter looked up at the boy and arched a brow, questioning his sudden motion.

"Emil, what is it?" Richter asked, obviously annoyed, as it was always best not to disturb the half-elf while he's working.

"Richter-san, today is Valentine's day!" He blushed, holding his fists to his chest.

Richter sighed a bit and replied. "Yes, and?"

"Don't you know what that means?" Emil wondered, excited by the idea of him and Richter having their first Valentine's.

Richter held back another sigh. "Valentine's day is when women hand out chocolates to the man they like and white day is when the men return the favor"

"Y-Yeah but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate too" despite both being boys, Emil always thought this day was for any couple, not just boy's and girls but even friends and family too.

"Emil, I have more important things to do than to hand chocolates out to each other, when I could do that at any time" Richter explained, annoyed with Emil's childish desire to celebrate such a useless day of romance.

"B-But..." Emil lowered his head and sat back down, pulling his knees up to his chin. He wanted to spend Valentine's day with Richter...but Richter seemed to not even care or want to celebrate as he was even already deep in his work again, not even noticing how upset Emil was.

Richter-san...Don't you want to spend Valentine's day with me...?

Emil knew he must have been acting childish but he couldn't help it, he wanted to spend a special romantic day with the one he loved...Wait, what if he were to convince Richter to celebrate if he made him special chocolate? It was decided, Emil quickly stood up and headed towards Luin, leaving Richter behind while he went to get the four ingredients for his chocolate. Choco, honey, coconut milk and coconut oil. After trading his Gald for the items, he borrowed the inn's kitchen to begin his baking.

"Once he has a bite of this chocolate, he'll have to do something romantic for me and celebrate" Emil smiled excitedly, his cheeks grazed with a bright pink color. Emil could feel himself become nervous with the thought of Richter's smile as he would say "Emil, your baking is amazing as always. Thank you, Emil" His heart skipped a beat but he quickly shook his head to cease the daydreaming, trying to finish as soon as possible, as he desperately wanted to see that smile.

Richter-san...Richter-san...I want to see Richter-san's smile...to pet me...hold...kiss me...

Emil stopped his thought's just before the next word could reach his mind. His chocolate had already been molded and just needed to be chilled. To make it go faster, Emil had his Fenrir Jord chill the chocolate. Once it was chilled, he started to neatly wrap it and once that was finished, he quickly made his way through the town but came to a halt when he came to the statue of Lloyd the great.

"This...This is where I first met Richter, where he saved me" Emil thought out loud and memories began to flash through his mind.

"I remember...when Richter helped me up, his hand was so strong...so warm" Emil held his own hand, missing...craving for that warmth once more.

* * *

Richter closed his book and put away all of his papers, finally finished with his work. He rubbed his eyes for a minute and started to wonder why the boy was so late to come back already and began to start to worry for him, so he quickly made his way to Luin to catch up with Emil. Richter stopped for a moment to close his eyes and looked deeply into his heart...He could feel Emil, Ratatosk's presence thanks to their pact and could almost pinpoint where the boy was in town, so he started his pacing once more and hurried to Luin. Richter did wish he knew how to just summon the boy to his side though, it would make finding him that much easier.

"Emil," Richter called out, watching the boy who was just sitting on the bench in front of Lloyd's statue with a dazed expression. Richter sighed and set beside the boy and only now did Emil realized Richter's presence.

"R-Richter-san?" Emil turned his head towards the man and blushed.

"Emil, what are you doing?" He asked, resting his palms on his knees.

"U-um...I was getting some ingredients" He smiled with his reply.

Richter arched a brow before looking at the sunset. "Does that have something to do with it being Valentine's day?"

"Of course! So...H-Happy valentine's day, Richter-san" Emil blushed a dark red before handing the man a small heart-shaped box. Richter eyed the box for a moment before finally taking it from the boy's hand. Once he opened the box, his eyes caught the sight of cute monster shaped chocolates.

"Emil, thank you" Richter smiled and Emil lit up like fire. Imagining Richter's smile could never compare to the real thing.

"I'm sorry...for not having anything for you and for disregarding your feelings. I should have thought about how much this meant to you" Emil could really see the sincerity in Richter's eyes and leaned against the man's shoulder, smiling.

"It's okay Richter-san, You don't need to apologize, I'm just glad your here," Emil said with a content smile, closing his eyes. Richter smiled down at the peaceful boy before taking a bite of one of the chocolates. His cheeks turning a light pink color at the taste.

"Emil..."

"hmm?" Emil hummed in response, keeping his eyes closed.

"I don't have any chocolates...but I do have at least something," Richter said in a low voice before taking Emil's hand and sending mana to the boy. Emil blushed immediately at this action and held back a moan when the older man sent him a larger mass of his mana.

"R-Richter-san...!" His breathing slowly turning into pants as his chest was slowly beginning to raise up and down faster.

"Emil" Richter leaned over and sealed the boy's lips with his own, slipping his tongue into his mouth, tangling their tongues together, allowing Emil to taste the lingering flavor of chocolate. He could hear the boy muffle moans through the few moments their lips were parted. He wrapped his arms around the boy's frame and dug his fingers into his soft blond hair. He practically smirked when he felt the boy instinctively wrapped his smaller arms around his neck and digging his finger's into his red hair.

"Emil..." Richter broke the kiss and looked the boy in the eyes. Emerald meeting emerald.

"R-Richter-san...?"

"Happy Valentine's day, Emil"


	11. Ex-ch11 Emil & Marta

**How did it come to this?: chapter EXTRA.2 Emil & Marta**

It had been a whole year since the pact between Ratatosk and Richter. Through the year of being together, Ratatosk and Emil had both became so strong as separate souls as a summon spirit that they learned a power that was much like the summon spirit Sylph. Ratatosk was able to split him and Emil into two separate bodies. But much like Aska and Luna, both were needed in order to perform any of their tasks as the summon spirit Ratatosk, guardian of the demon gate. Both could fight on their own but it was much easier when together. Richter, on the other hand, had learned to summon the two to his side whenever he needed them and even got them used to his mana...though with the right intentions, Richter was still able to use his mana against the boys in a very intimate manner.

Since Ratatosk and Emil were both strong enough to separate as two beings, they came to the realization that they could possibly change their form to anything they want, or in Ratatosk's case, he could go back to his original form. But when they brought this to Richter's attention, he knew this had to do with them having Aster's. But to Richter, Emil and Ratatosk's face was their own, not a copy of Aster and realistically, Emil as only ever known himself with that face, so he would never ask for the boy to change just for him. But this didn't apply to Ratatosk since he was only using Aster's face and deserved to have his own face back should he decide to.

"So it's okay...if I don't change my face?" Emil asked as he walked with the older man through a small town.

"No, its the only face you've ever known, and its the only face I've ever known you in" Richter smiled a bit as he looked over at the blond.

"Richter-san, thank you for saying so...that makes me really happy" He smiled brightly with a rosy pink color gracing his cheeks.

"But you had your own form Ratatosk, so if you want to change, then go right ahead," Richter said, eyeing the red-eyed blond who walked beside Emil. Ratatosk, not meeting the man's gaze as he eyed the clouds instead.

"Yeah, I might change back or at least find something different than this" Ratatosk said, not really expressing much emotion as he continued to watch the clouds.

"If you were, then what would you and Emil look like when you two become one again?" Richter asked.

"Whichever one of use starts the fusion. But the other one can change our shape should they desire" Ratatosk replied.

"I see..." Richter was now in his thoughts. Emil just smiled at the two, happy to be beside his other half and lover at the same time in his own body.

* * *

The three had finally reached Asgard after a short ride on their monsters. Richter had actually wanted to head east from their original location but Marta had sent Emil a letter that she wanted to see him and since she would be staying there a while with Sheena for one of her missions, they had plenty of time. Emil hadn't seen Marta in a long time and would often think about her, so Emil decided to go and meet up with her but Richter and Ratatosk weren't about to let the boy go alone, so all three went together.

As soon as they reached the town, Marta was awaiting them by the entrance and was surprised to see two of her beloved blond. Emil explained to her about him and Ratatosk being able to separate, explaining everything while said other half seemed unable to look the girl in the eye, much less even speak to her...Marta noticed this but decided to wait to say anything and simply explained that Sheena would be gone a while, which would give her and Emil some free time to shop for the girl's needed items, as well as helping her learn how to cook. With Emil gone with Marta, Ratatosk and Richter ended up wandering around town together, though Richter didn't find much of the town to be very exciting, he was very fond of learning the long history of it though.

"Wow Emil, its so good to see you, you look a little bit older" Marta smiled at the blond, her cheeks grazed with a soft pink. To be honest, she never quite recovered from when she witnessed Emil and Richter in the Ginuangagap a year ago. She was with Lloyd at the time and they had finally confronted the two boys after having to deal with Aqua, leaving their stoned friends behind...Her heart was broken but she knew how much the half-elf made Emil happy...what could she do? If the boy didn't love her, then there wasn't much of an option, so just being happy for him was all she could think to do...but seeing him now, hurt more then ever.

"Yeah, you look a bit older too" Emil smiled but blushed a slight red color when his eyes caught the oddly more noticeable size of Marta's chest and the slight thickness to her thighs then before. She had grown older too, into a beautiful young woman. Emil missed her sweet smile, the sound of her voice and that sweet fruity smell that floated around the girl, her honest blue eyes and her soft brown hair. Emil was honestly in love with Marta...but something...something strongly pulled him towards Richter and before he knew it, he was in love with the man and all he wanted was to be by his side...but now that he was beside Marta, his mind couldn't help but wonder how his life would have ended up if he had never been separated from her when he went firewood collecting that night from a year ago.

"Hey so...How come when you guy's arrived, Ratatosk refused to look at me?" The girl asked with concerned eyes, hoping she hadn't done something wrong.

"Um...well, Ratatosk has just been having issue's lately, don't let it bother you too much but I am sorry if that hurt you" To be honest, Emil and Ratatosk could share physical feelings and even thoughts and emotions, so he knew what was bothering his other half. Ratatosk was actually not sure how to approach the girl, especially since he knew that the Emil side of him was and always will be, her favorite...If only Marta knew how much that hurt.

"Well, I hope he feels better soon"

"Yeah, thanks, Marta" Emil smiled, appreciating the girl's thoughtfulness.

"Anyway, let's have fun today!" Her bright smile returning to her face and wraps her arm around Emil's and drags him along to the store and oddly enough, Emil wasn't embarrassed, he was simply reminded of their time together from the past travels together and simply chuckled at her action, almost surprising the girl, but in the end the two smiled together arm in arm on their way to the market.

* * *

While Emil and Marta did that, Richter and Ratatosk decided to get a room at the inn for a place to sit down, since Ratatosk didn't seem much for walking and Richter wouldn't mind a few minutes to spare sitting. Ratatosk sat on one of the chairs while Richter sat on one of the beds reading one of his books. Both sat in silence for a while before Ratatosk finally said something.

"You would choose Emil...wouldn't you"

"What?" Richter looked over from his bed to the blond in the chair, being gazed by those crimson eyes.

"If you had to choose me or Emil, you'd choose Emil" His voice now raised, lifting his head from his arms that rested on the backrest of the chair.

"..." Richter stayed silent as he watched the summon spirit.

"I mean, it makes sense and I wouldn't blame you..." His voice lowered as well as his gaze, losing the will to look at the half-elf any longer.

"Ratatosk..." Richter could see the hurt in his eyes.

"It's just..." He stood from his seat as the chair scraped back. "I love you too damn it! But...I know you would have never even given me a chance if not for Emil...for this face...Aster's face...But even then, me and Emil are the same so...I really do love you Richter...but I know that you..." His words trailed off as he dropped his gaze back to the ground, refusing the tears that began to well up in his eyes.

"Ratatosk...you said it yourself, you and him are the same. Emil just happens to be the part of you I met first but all in all...Falling in love with Emil was falling in love with you and falling in love with you, is falling in love with Emil" Richter explained and takes a hold of the boy's shoulders, gaining his attention as their eyes meet. Just in those few minutes of their eyes never leaving each other, Ratatosk knew what Richter's heart was saying and blushed a matching color of his eyes. At that moment of Ratatosk blushing before him, Richter wrapped his arms around his waist and claimed those pairs of lips, pressing them together. Ratatosk closed his eyes, letting that amazing sensation that only Richter could give him, wash over him. Once Richter was sure Ratatosk had fully submitted to the sensation of the kiss, he swept him off his feet and pinned him down on the bed.

* * *

"Emil, could you wait here a minute? The mayor said he wanted to speak with me and Sheena" Marta said, handing her bags to the boy, who seemed to have a lot more strength to carry them more properly then before. "Sure" Emil smiled and didn't mind waiting, so the girl left as quickly as she could, hoping to do the same on her way back as to not make the boy wait too long.

"I wonder what the mayor wanted to see them for? I should have asked if I could come along" He sighed, now only realizing how lonely waiting would be. Emil decided to at least go and drop off Marta's bag in her room at the inn, that way they wouldn't be a bother when she came back. He headed towards the inn closest to the mayor's house and entered the small room to the left, thankful the door wasn't locked. He closed the door behind him and set the bags down beside her bed.

"Few, those were actually a bit heavy" Emil dusted the invisible dust on his hands and gave a small smile towards the bags before he was about to head out the room when he suddenly felt a tingly sensation on his lips, much like the feeling when Richter would kiss him.

"W-What the...?" Emil blushed a pink color, putting a hand to his lips but it wasn't long before he felt a sudden heat build in his body. His face became bright red and began to pant as his vision became blurred. His member throbbed, leaving a huge tent in his pants.

"R-Ratatosk...a-are you and Richter going at it...?" Emil huffed, letting his back hit the wall, losing his senses as his own hands began to roam his own body, feeling his own nipples from under his tunic, tracing what must be the feeling of Richter's hands.

"Unnh...! R-Richter-san..." He softly moaned. With a sudden jolt of pleasure hitting him, he could practically feel Richter's large hot member hit him inside. Emil instantly unzipped his pants at this, lost in the sensation. He wrapped his fingers around his erection and began to pull and squeeze, following the same movements of Richter's hand that must be going over Ratatosk's, instinctively thrusting forward, letting his ass fall back and slam the wall, moaning, panting, and calling out Richter's name, shutting his eyes tightly. His climax was coming but before he let himself release, he fell forward against the bed and moved his hips to mimic how Ratatosk must be moving to Richter''s thrusting, letting his member rub and thrash against the bed sheets, letting the friction bring him closer to his limits.

"R-Richter-san!" He moaned as he finally released, letting himself fully collapse onto the bed, panting heavily. It took the boy a few minutes before his senses finally returned and realized he made a mess all over Marta's bed. He continued to blush and quickly tried to clean it up once he fixed up clothes and only exited the room when the innkeeper had stepped into the back room for something, as he was embarrassed the man might have heard him from earlier.

"How embarrassing..." He sighed, as the heat continued to radiate from his cheeks, heading back to where he was originally waiting.

"Richter-san...I bet Ratatosk must have had a good time" Emil couldn't believe his own thoughts because he had always been so embarrassed when Richter would approach him about sex but Emil couldn't help but feel jealous that Ratatosk had gotten to feel Richter's real weapon inside him, as well as the hot release

"-Emil!" Marta quickly approaching the boy. Emil shook his head to end his thoughts, hoping to cool the heat in his face.

"Sorry, that took so long but...Sheena says she has to go, so...I offered to help her..." Her head lowered.

"So you're leaving already?" Emil frowned.

"Yeah, sorry Emil...But thank you for shopping with me, take care of yourself " She smiled a bit before pecking a small kiss on the boy's cheek and heading off to her room to gather her things. Emil was a bit sad the girl was leaving but now that she was gone, all he could think about was Richter and all the things he wanted Richter to do to him, so he hurried over to the inn up the hill. When he entered the room, Richter looked over at the boy from the bed he sat on, while Ratatosk slept beside him, curled up under the blanket.

"Emil, how was it?" Richter asked, resting his book on his lap.

"It was great seeing Marta again...but you know what? I don't think I ever want to know what could have been...I'm just happy I'm here with you" Emil blushed as he smiled at the older man and headed over to sit on the other side of the man, leaning against him.

"Emil..." Richter smiled and pet the soft head of blond hair. He had always wondered how it would have been if Ratatosk had never killed Aster but he was so happy with Emil by his side...that he didn't think of those things anymore.

"Richter-san...I love you"

I love you too...Emil"


End file.
